A Utopian Post-Colonial Future

Victoria, Australia 2027

Studio 40, Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, led by Dr Rochus Hinkel (DE/AU). Projects by Maria Bulmaga (AU), Leonie Csanki (AU), Gina Dahl (NO/AU), Jun Da Ling (MY/AU), Sandra Lin (AU), Liam Maddern-Wellington (AU), Gabrielle Miegeville-Little (NZ/AU), Dylan Newell (AU), Lei Ni (CN/AU), Zarli Skinner (AU), Evelyn Suresh (IN/AU), Tangrusi Wang (CN/AU)

Project Description

Can we imagine a utopia that creates a post-colonial social and political framework and overcomes the concept of land as commodity, inspired by indigenous concepts of relationship to country? Could a reintroduction of pre-settlement biodiversity, a return to local food production, a rethinking of community, establish a utopian and futuristic response to the challenges we face? Can a return to a holistic understanding of country, as in all species, non-human and human, as practiced in the more than 60.000 years old indigenous aboriginal culture, help us tackle our contemporary crises, from climate change and a system of continuous growth to the extinction of species and the industrialization of our food production?

Project Credits

Studio 40, Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, led by Dr Rochus Hinkel (DE/AU), with support by Melissa Iraheta and Tony Yu, NExT Lab (MSD).

Artist Bios

All authors are students in the Master of Architecture at MSD – Melbourne School of Design, at The University of Melbourne. The studio leader Dr Rochus Urban Hinkel (DE/AU) is Associate Professor at MSD.