MPARNTWE: WHEN YOU COME TO ANOTHER COUNTRY - event wrap by Andrea Nixon
Alice Springs, 11th-13th september 2025.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY tom roe, with additional image from Paul Trotter
Listening to What Place Has to Tell Us
Weeks after the Regional Architecture Association's Mparntwe event, I'm still contemplating what happened in Central Arrernte Country. Not only the sessions set in the spectacular landscape, but something harder to pin down, a shift in how I understand things can be or could be, when we step away from our usual assumptions and start working on the edges for creativity, discovery and insight.
Mparntwe creative directors, L-R Bobbie Bayley, Tonielle Dempers and Owen Kelly, photo by Tom Roe
The five-day program ‘Mparntwe - When you come to another Country’, led by Creative Directors Bobbie Bayley, Owen Kelly and Tonielle Dempers, was beautifully structured around the idea that "landscape has the first word and the last."
The Central Desert has presence. As the sun rose over the MacDonnell Ranges we climbed to greet the first day and to mark its end walked to Ormiston Gorge to swim at dusk. These provocations by the curators echoing that place should inform us, not the other way around. Listen to what place has to tell us.
Sunrise at Olive Pink Botanic Garden, photo by Tom Roe
Ormiston Gorge, photo by Paul Trotter
Breaking Down Myths of Remote Housing
Housing dominated the discussions, and for good reason. After decades of government schemes, we still don't have reliable data on housing needs in remote communities. The speakers laid out a sobering picture regarding Clause 9b of the ‘Close the Gap’ report on power, water and over-crowding in housing. It’s hard to close the gap without data. This absence of evidence undermines policy.
David Donald of Healthabitat, photo by Tom Roe
Housing is more than shelter, it is health. David Donald from Healthabitat has been tracking this for over 30 years. His data shows something straightforward but profound: when basic infrastructure works, when taps deliver clean water, when electrical systems don't overload, when drains work, hospital admissions drop dramatically, up to 40%. It's not rocket science, nor architecture with a capital A, but somehow, we keep getting it wrong. Designs that force people to break kinship rules around avoidance relationships or overheat in the dry arid climate. These aren't minor oversights, as they compound to entrench disadvantage.
But there were also signs of change. New approaches emerging from communities themselves, data-driven housing audits, and climate-responsive design guides. The $4 billion Commonwealth commitment over the next decade could actually make a difference, if it's channelled effectively toward long-term, culturally grounded solutions. While $3 billion is earmarked for new builds and $1 billion for refurbishments, evidence from Healthabitat shows that lack of maintenance of existing houses, like broken showers, unsafe electrics, and malfunctioning kitchens, directly drives overcrowding and health risks. Their data suggests refurbishment, regulation and implementation of those regulations will deliver greater impact than building new stock in the NT. As David asked in his presentation: "We should ask ourselves, is the aim to build new houses or reduce the negative impact of crowding?" This call for shifting focus demands better policy guidance, targeting impact through a new lens to reframe priorities. It appears that modern methods of construction will be a saviour for these remote communities, along with cyclical maintenance programs and a simple annual survey system.
Learning to Work Differently
Outside the housing sessions, the conference celebrated a different kind of creativity entirely. In fact, it kicked off with the inimitable Elliat Rich and James B. Young at the Flynn Memorial Uniting Church on Todd Mall. They described using the desert as a classroom, where discomfort becomes a tool for thinking differently. Such as walking with camels and donkeys across vast distances and finding a place to practice true observation. One of their signature projects tested ideas against extreme landscapes with emerging carved sandstone chair artwork. This was then QR-coded between the desert and a city-based gallery. We discovered that Bobbie & Owen had also taken an immense leap by cycling ‘The Grand Section’ across Australia, taking twelve months. Each had learnt through time and place, which felt like the ultimate journey of discovery.
James B. Young & Elliat Rich, photo by Tom Roe
"UInlearning is as important as learning" kept coming up. In practice, this meant letting go of certainty, embracing contradictions, and working with what you don't know. We visited a town project reimagining local art studios and collaborations to become Hele Studios, an incredible place, built from recycled and repurposed materials, and chaperoned into existence over two decades by Mike Gillam and his partner Maria Giacon. Designers and artists discovering what their practice looks like when pushed to its edges.
These weren't just feel-good stories about the creative process. They pointed toward a different way of measuring architectural and design value, less about polished outcomes, more about responsiveness, resilience, climate, and being in a shared place with others.
Country as Teacher
Fascinating conversations centred on Indigenous knowledge systems. Speakers, like Vanessa Napaltjari Davis, Senior Aboriginal Researcher at Tangentyere Council, and Arrernte Elder Kumalie Riley Kngwarraye, articulated how knowledge begins with Country. Kinship systems, cultural protocols, and storytelling traditions are their primary design principles.
Vanessa Napaltjari Davis of Tangentyere Council with Michael Klerck (left) and Tonielle Dempers (right), photo by Tom Roe
Arrernte Elder Kumalie Riley Kngwarraye, photo by Tom Roe
"Country as curator" - instead of architecture as object imposed on landscape, design becomes a dialogue with place. Stories, art, and relationships shape form and meaning. Marni Reti, a First Nations architect from Kaunitz Yeung, shared projects that embodied this. She described art centres functioning as cultural and economic anchors, designs carrying narratives of place, and collaborative artworks emerging from deep community relationships. Trent Woods, from Officer Woods, revealed the power in program and brief when designing an art centre for Martumili artists and community. The East Pilbara Arts Centre in Newman, WA, looks worth the visit to see this place in action, serving artists, community, and all who drop in.
Marni Reti of Kaunitz Yeung, photo by Tom Roe
Trent Woods of Officer Woods with Tonielle Dempers (left), photo by Tom Roe
As a non-Indigenous attendee, these sessions were insightful and generous. The knowledge being shared came with clear responsibility about respecting cultural intellectual property, working transparently, and committing long-term.
Process as Project
It was interesting how consistently buildings were presented as part of something larger. The East Pilbara Arts Centre serves six communities by generating income. Blaklash, an indigenous consultancy based in Brisbane, is shifting community narratives through story-centred design. Susan Dugdale and Miriam Wallace, from SDA based in Alice Springs, showed prototypes where iteration mattered more than perfection. After working for over 2 decades, these two women have made a significant impact on the townscape itself.
Troy Casey of Blaklash, photo by Tom Roe
Sue Dugdale (left) and Miriam Wallace (right) of Susan Dugdale & Associates, photo by Tom Roe
In every case, the real project was the process, being collaborative, hands-on and deeply embedded in community. Architecture as relationships, rather than outcome. Design is an ongoing commitment to the community, rather than a finely delivered object. This idea of a relationship-first approach has implications beyond remote & regional practice, holding clues for future development elsewhere.
Beyond the Sessions
The structured program was only part of what made the Mparntwe experience special. Sunrise walks, time spent in meditation with Ngangkari traditional healers, dinner talks under the stars, and unexpected soundscapes of local birds woven into events, each reinforced the central message about listening first. Encounters with Desert Mob artists, botanists, and community leaders expanded the program to embrace all the ways that creativity emerges from place.
L-R Mrs Smith and Julia Burke of the Ngangkari Program, Uti Kulintjaku, NPY Women’s Council, photo by Tom Roe
Joy and humour were abundant throughout. Stories about travelling with camels and donkeys, discomfort from heat, and the realities of logistics in remote places were reframed as challenges, rather than being problematic. The sense of being in place was stronger than the need to dominate the landscape.
What Stays
What lingers isn't any single presentation or project, but a shifted sense, a glimpse of where and how innovation happens. Not in the centres we usually pay attention to, but on the edges of geography, climate, and culture.
I left Alice Springs with the soundscape of Country in my ears, including birds at dawn, silence on walks, voices across desert space, and across Todd Mall. An impressive mob of architects, designers and collaborators are living in Mparntwe, who have embraced place with passion and commitment. But mostly I left with a conviction that our profession needs to keep listening, because Country and place speak deeply, and most of us are still learning the skills.
Delegates outside Flynn Memorial Uniting Church, photo by Tom Roe
Personal reflections from attendees:
‘"Mpartntwe: When You Come to Another Country" was an inspiring gathering of generous and open speakers who reminded me that good design isn’t just about people — it’s about deeply understanding culture’ – Kirsten Stanisich, Richards Stanisich
‘We were reminded that architecture’s strength lies not in fixing but guiding processes and honouring the stories that need to be heard, lived and held. That Place must be understood on its own terms. What made this event so powerful was how deeply it embodied its values. Respect for Country, openness to diverse voices and a commitment to listening and learning. It struck a rare and careful balance between what has been and what’s to come, the tangible and the unseen, the pragmatic and the aspirational. It was a space held with care and a reflection of what architecture can be, grounded in Place, community and listening.’ – Azadeh Kazeranizadeh, Billard Leece Partnership
L to R Azadeh Kazeranizadeh, Andrea Nixon (the author), Kirsten Stanisich, Karen Alcock, Rachel Nolan, photo by Tom Roe
RAA would like to thank the major sponsors Stratco Architectural Solutions, Architectural Window Systems (AWS), Susan Dugdale & Associates, Bondor Metecno and Allegion for their commitment to making this important event a reality. RAA wishes to acknowledge the AIA for their facilitation of Bondor Metecno and Allegion’s sponsorship of the event.
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