The winning bid for 'Migration Monument', a site-specific public sculpture installation reflecting Australia's immigration history

Last year Professor Nikos Papastergiadis, Director of RUPC, worked with on a project consisting of artist Callum Morton and his team, Charlotte Day (curator), Bob Earl (urban designer and landscape architect, Oculus), Nigel Bertram (architect, NMBW), Paul House (Ngambri custodian), Andre Bonnice (Monash Art Projects), Peter Felicetti, (structural and civil engineer), and Daniella Trimboli (The University of Melbourne, PhD student), on a winning bid for their design of a site-specific public sculpture installation reflecting Australia's immigration history, which has just been announced in April 2015.

This monument is to be placed in Canberra celebrating Australia's immigration history.

The project occupies a site outside the National Archives and the office of Prime Minister and Cabinet on Kings Avenue in the Parliamentary Triangle. The concept of the winning design is anchored by ancient Aboriginal mythology. According to the site's traditional owners, the Ngambri, the womb of a spirit woman rests on the site. The site is also in close proximity to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The idea of the "womb" inspired the sine-wave shape of the structure. The sine wave is also symbolic of the rolling turbulence of the ocean and a type of cloud reflecting migration via sea and air.

For more information please see the ArchitectureAU website.

Migration Monument

The winning proposal for Immigration Place Australia ideas competition by Callum Morton et al. Image: Immigration Place Australia

Migration Monument

The proposed sculpture takes the form of sine waves, representing waves of immigration. Image: Immigration Place Australia

Migration Monument

The sculpture is made from stacks of steel at various spacings. Image:  Immigration Place Australia