Monash Art, Design and Architecture

Monash Art, Design and Architecture Monash Art, Design and Architecture is a connected community of creative thinkers, makers and professional practitioners.

Located on the lands of the Kulin Nation.

Great to see Dr Elizabeth Taylor featured in The Age this week on one of Melbourne's biggest questions: how do we house ...
03/09/2026

Great to see Dr Elizabeth Taylor featured in The Age this week on one of Melbourne's biggest questions: how do we house millions more people without losing what makes the city work?

Dr Taylor argues decentralisation deserves fresh consideration, noting that what "once seemed far-fetched to decentralise" is "arguably a better model than the megacity option." But she's clear-eyed about what it takes, warning that "to build and nurture real liveable cities, you have to stick at it for 20 or 30 years and well beyond any electoral cycle."

Read the full story: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/people-flocked-here-for-city-living-country-style-but-will-its-historic-heart-beat-on-20250219-p5ldbr.html

How can we transform existing buildings to address the climate crisis?Monash Architecture’s Hot Air Transformations: Kua...
01/09/2026

How can we transform existing buildings to address the climate crisis?

Monash Architecture’s Hot Air Transformations: Kuala Lumpur travelling studio, led by Professor Erik L’Heureux, challenged students to explore how adaptive reuse, retrofitting and carbon calculations can create more sustainable futures for tropical cities.

Working with mid-century modern buildings in KL, students tested low-carbon strategies that prioritise climate responsiveness over demolition and rebuild.

"Equatorial cities require architecture that works with climate rather than against it," Professor L'Heureux said.

Through the studio, Master of Architecture students Sudha and Nawab deepened their understanding of climate-responsive design.

“Travelling to KL, collaborating with our classmates and learning directly from local firms gave us an incredible perspective on equatorial design,” said Nawab.
"Focusing on weekly models pushed us to solve structural and performance questions early on... It built a practical understanding of how climate and carbon metrics directly shape spatial decisions." said Sudha.

Thank you to our Malaysian collaborators and experts, including Dr Lai Chee Kien, Shin Tseng, Dr Yee Kee Ku, Huat Lim, Ng Sek San and others for supporting this cross-cultural learning experience.

Read the full story: https://ow.ly/owU550ZHy0n



Image credits:
1. Gregers Reimann - River confluence, Klang River and Gombak River, KL.
2. Erik L'Heureux - KL skyline.
3. Nawab Singh - RXKL Design with Shin Tseng.
4-8. Sudha Kandel and Nawab Singh - Old Chartered Bank Retrofit Designs aspects and models.
9. Ng Sek San - Kebun Kebun Urban Farm with Ng Sek San.

25/08/2026

Thinking about studying art, design or architecture? Join us at our Experience Days and get a taste of what it’s like to study at Monash Art, Design and Architecture through a series of hands-on workshops and activities.

22 September | Art History and Curating at Monash
Go behind the scenes of an art museum installation and discover how exhibitions come together. Hear from curators and museum professionals, explore exhibition planning and artwork selection, then create your own exhibition concept using works from the MUMA collection.

22 September | Life Drawing Workshop for Folios
Develop your drawing skills through a range of observational and experimental exercises designed to strengthen your folio. Led by our fine art academics, this workshop is a great opportunity to gain advice on folio preparation and learn more about studying fine art at Monash.

23 September | Design Workshop: The Amazing Design Race
Take on a creative design challenge where you’ll gather materials, build a prototype and explore how AI can enhance the design process. Discover how design thinking, making and emerging technologies come together to create innovative solutions.

23 September | Architecture Making Workshop
Experience life as a Monash architecture student through hands-on making activities in our studio spaces. Work with our architecture staff to design and construct 3D structures while exploring materials, scale, site and other key architectural considerations.

Join us on campus to explore your creative interests, meet our academics and experience what it’s like to study at Monash Art, Design and Architecture.

Places are limited, so register soon.
https://www.monash.edu/mada/future-students/undergraduate/experience-workshops

For her Year 12 Product Design and Technology project, Maya Soha from Star of the Sea College developed a multi-sensory ...
21/08/2026

For her Year 12 Product Design and Technology project, Maya Soha from Star of the Sea College developed a multi-sensory garment to help her grandmother cope with dementia.

The project won Maya the 2025 Monash University Design Prize along with a two-week internship at the Monash Design Health Collab, where she deepened her interest in social design and learned collaborative industrial design. Now studying the Bachelor of Architectural Studies and the Bachelor of Design at Monash, she hasn’t looked back.

Could you or a VCE student you know be the next Monash Design Prize winner?
Enter your best design by 11 September for a chance to win $1000 and a two week internship at Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA).

Read Maya's story and explore the Monash Design Prize here: https://ow.ly/aANj50ZBHWw

19/08/2026

Finishing your Bachelor of Fine Art and wondering what’s next?

Join us for an online information session at 5pm on 2 September to learn about our prestigious Fine Art Honours degree.

Advance your contemporary fine art or curatorial practice in this prestigious one-year program.

Register now
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/monash-fine-art-honours-2027-online-information-session-tickets-1992396312003

Image: Joseph Doggett Williams, Catching, 2025. Mixed media. (Image taken by the artist).

Congratulations to the eight Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) academics who have been named Monash University ...
12/08/2026

Congratulations to the eight Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) academics who have been named Monash University 70th Anniversary Fellows for their leadership and impact across education, research, enterprise and commercialisation.

Education Fellows:

Dr Ilya Fridman, Deputy Head of Design and Senior Lecturer
For transforming the Design Thinking program across global campuses, embedding responsible AI, sustainability, and student feedback into interactive, cross-faculty learning.
Associate Professor Nicholas Mangan, Program Director, Fine Art Honours program
For building a nationally renowned Fine Art Honours program through inclusive studio critiques and strong industry connections, driving exceptional graduate careers.
Associate Professor Catherine Murphy, Program Director, Master of Urban Planning and Design
For reshaping the Master of Urban Planning and Design curriculum around real-world industry partnerships and collaborative studio practice.

Research Fellows:

Dr Peta Clancy, Associate Dean Indigenous and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art
For leading First Nations-focused photographic research that investigates colonial histories and deepening connections to Country through non-extractive creative practices.
Professor Daphne Flynn, Director of Design Health Collab
For driving health innovations including the PALM asthma device and a mobile stroke scanner tested at The Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Professor Maryam Gusheh, Co-Director of Monash Urban Lab
For advancing applied architecture to tackle urban housing challenges and co-directing the Australian exhibition for the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Enterprise and Commercialisation Fellows:

Associate Professor Duncan Maxwell, Director of the Future Building Initiative
For leading $66 million in cross-faculty research partnerships through the Building 4.0 CRC to deliver scalable digital design and industrialised housing solutions.
Professor Callum Morton, Director of Monash Art Projects (MAP)
For generating over $8 million in research income through Monash Art Projects, by embedding major public artworks directly into civic infrastructure, including the award-winning The Underneath at Sydney Metro's Gadigal Station.

Join us in congratulating this exceptional cohort.

How can we address Victoria's housing crisis? Start by asking our students.On Thursday, MADA hosted the launch of the Vi...
11/08/2026

How can we address Victoria's housing crisis? Start by asking our students.

On Thursday, MADA hosted the launch of the Victorian Government's State Design Book: Part 3 and University Showcase — spotlighting how the next generation of architects is tackling one of the state's toughest challenges: the "missing middle" housing gap.

Minister for Planning the Hon Sonya Kilkenny and Associate Victorian Government Architect Stefan Preuss joined us to open the exhibition, which features townhouse, apartment and precinct designs from five Victorian universities. Minister Kilkenny said universities play a vital role in shaping future housing and emphasised the importance of well-designed density for our communities.

Three student projects from Monash Architecture feature in the book and exhibition: a scalable retrofit model for Merri-bek by Sophie Miles; a flexible shared-living concept by Rebecca Mallaby, winner of the Bluescope Glenn Murcutt Student Prize; and an aged-care housing vision beside Abbotsford Convent by Adelina Holil and Tomas Ackerley. Serious proposals for how Victorians might live, connect and age — grounded in the economics and realities of delivering housing at scale.

Opening the event, Dean of Monash Art, Design and Architecture Professor Mel Dodd reflected on why work like this matters: the design of the places we live directly affects community health, equity and environmental resilience.

Thank you to Minister Kilkenny for taking the time to launch this important book and for the Victorian Government's continued support of universities' role in shaping the state's housing future, to the Department of Transport and Planning, to Stephen Preuss and the Office of the Victorian Government Architect for initiating the State Design Book and University Showcase. Thank you also to Associate Professor Lee-Anne Khor for helping shape Monash's contribution, our Architecture studio leaders for mentoring our featured students, and the researchers at Monash Urban Lab for their accompanying work on housing delivery and density.

Thank you also to our Architecture colleagues Paul Sanders and Eleanor Suess (Deakin University), Peter Brew and Claire Scorpo (RMIT University), Markus Jung (Swinburne University of Technology) and Donald Bates (University of Melbourne) for joining Monash’s Head of Architecture, Professor Erik L'Heureux, to launch a showcase that features work from students across all five universities.

Read the full story:
https://www.monash.edu/mada/news/2026/monash-university-partners-with-victorian-government-to-launch-state-design-book-university-showcase

📍 The University Showcase exhibition is free and open until 20 August at Building G, MADA, Caulfield campus.
Image 1: Prof Erik L'Heureux (HOD, Monash Architecture), Sophie Miles(Monash), Lachlan Hartnett (RMIT University), Sonya Kilkenny MP (DTP), Prof Mel Dodd (Dean, Monash Art, Design and Architecture), Tomas Ackerley (Monash), A/Prof Lee-Anne Khor (Monash), Stefan Preuss (OVGA).

A remarkable international achievement for our Department of Architecture. 🌏Congratulations to Senior Lecturer Hae-won S...
07/08/2026

A remarkable international achievement for our Department of Architecture. 🌏

Congratulations to Senior Lecturer Hae-won Shin, whose research-led design consortium has placed fourth out of 48 international entries in the competition to design Seoul's new 50,000-square-metre Gwangjang-dong Sports Complex.

Representing Monash University through her practice Lokaldesign, Shin was part of the only Australian university team shortlisted for this prestigious international tender. The project also marked the first time two female-led architectural practices have placed in the top five of a public competition of this scale in South Korea.

The innovative proposal reimagines the sports complex as an open, community-focused destination, combining ecological resilience, public space and mass-timber design. The project also created a unique learning opportunity for Monash architecture students, connecting live international practice with studio teaching.

Thank you to the 서울특별시청 (Seoul Metropolitan Government), all the jurors and our exceptional consortium collaborators HILDEBRAND, Studio Vulkan, ATEC, DLA+, Arup and EAN Technologies for their expertise, creativity and partnership throughout this project.

Congratulations to everyone involved on this outstanding achievement.
Read the full story: https://ow.ly/jaLj50ZxgT0

Congratulations to Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) graduate Tabitha Glanville for receiving the 2026 Dr Harold Schenberg ...
03/08/2026

Congratulations to Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) graduate Tabitha Glanville for receiving the 2026 Dr Harold Schenberg Arts Award!

Presented to three PICA Hatched: National Graduate Show artists in recognition of their outstanding talent and to support their professional and artistic development.

The judges observed: “Tabitha Glanville’s work is deeply considered, demonstrating a materially assured practice that brings layered filmic, spatial and poetic strategies into powerful relation. The work stood out for its immersive yet intimate quality, the sophistication of its filmic techniques, its strong material understanding, and its capacity to translate subject, experience and context into a reflective space that feels both personal and protective.”

Read more about Tabitha’s work
https://www.monash.edu/mada/news/2026/pica-2026-graduate-show-announcing-tabitha-glanville

Image 1: Tabitha Glanville recipient of the Dr Harold Schenberg Arts Award 2026, Hatched: National Graduate Show 2026. Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. Photo: Olivia Pizzale-Bryce

Image 2: Tabitha Glanville, gyrr ngaya bina-guwal winanga-la-na, installation 2 view at MADA Now 2026 (2026). Photo by Andrew Curtis

Image 3: Tabitha Glanville, gyrr ngaya bina-guwal winanga-la-na, installation 2 view at MADA Now 2026 (2026). Photo by Andrew Curtis

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