Suzanne Hunt offers her observations and advice for graduates and students facing unsettling times.
Who would have thought 12 months ago that Australia would be devastated by bushfires, floods, droughts, a climate crisis and then a global pandemic killing hundreds of thousands around the world, while devastating our economy? The new normal doesn’t feel very normal to me. It’s shocking and terrifying in equal measure.
As a graduate or student of architecture I feel your anxiety and concern about the future and as an experienced (read ‘older’) architect, my heart sincerely goes out to you all.
None of us practising today have experienced such unsettled times, combined with the inability to go to where the work is, or even go to work! But as I reflect on my career over the past 33 years, I realise that my career has been affected by various economic downturns, both global and personal since my graduation.
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work and pay our respects to elders’ past, present and emerging. We acknowledge all First Nations peoples’ spiritual connection to the lands and waterways of Country and that their land was never ceded.