What is possible for Coburg if we look at its future from radically different angles?

Merri-bek City Council and RMIT PlaceLab present ‘Disruptive Ideas for Revitalising Coburg’, a discussion designed to provoke new thinking and hear new perspectives, as Council plans to transform some of the under-used spaces it owns in the heart of Coburg.

Join us at Schoolhouse Studios, alongside a panel of ‘urban provocateurs’ to think about public space and urban design from new and often hyper-local angles. The discussion will be hosted by Mayor of Merri-bek City Council Cr Adam Pulford.

This event will mark the start of a participatory design project where we will interrogate the way we understand place and design through a collaboration between RMIT academics and Master of Architecture students, and community members; building an understanding of how a revitalised Coburg can better support and enhance diverse public life – today and into the future.

Facilitated by Esther Anatolitis.

Light refreshments provided, drinks available for purchase from the Schoolhouse Studios bar.
FREE – Please book here

With:

Dr Simona Castricum, Architecture worker, musician, broadcaster.
Simona (she/her) is a spatial designer through her practice D4TGD—Design for Trans and Gender Diverse, developing research-led design justice methodologies in gendered space. Simona’s PhD: ‘What if Safety Becomes Permanent? Architecture & Music as a Site of Transing’ received the University of Melbourne’s Chancellor’s Prize, and the Melbourne School of Design John Grice Award in 2023, as well as a two-time longlist nominee for the Australian Music Prize in 2020 and 2023. Simona is a broadcaster on Melbourne
community radio 3RRR FM.

Celeste Morgan is an explorer of the relationship between water and urban form. She has worked globally on reshaping cities to harness and celebrate water—which has historically been hidden—in ways that build resilience, support greening and revitalisd waterways. Celeste recently led the collaborative development of integrated water management plans for each of the five major catchments in the Melbourne Region. And she lives locally on the Coburg-Brunswick border.

Lauren Garner and Jan van Schaik are the RMIT team leading the project’s research arm. Lauren is an architect and Associate Lecturer at RMIT Architecture & Urban Design. She brings design expertise from large-scale civic projects, most recently in urban renewal sites like Fisherman’s Bend. She is the cofounder of ExtraContextual, a design practice that explores design beyond physical boundaries, emphasising lesser-known narratives of place. Jan is an artist and architect based in Melbourne. He is the director of MvS Architects, a creative-practice researcher and Senior Lecturer at RMIT Architecture & Urban Design, the founder of +Concepts, designer of Lost Tablets, and a creative sector activist at Future Tense.

FREE – Please book