Two distinguished architects have been recognized in the 2021 Australia Day Honours.
University of Queensland professor Paul Memmott has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia “for distinguished service to ethno-architecture and anthropology, to Indigenous housing and cultural heritage, and to tertiary education.”
Memmott is known for his teaching and research across architecture and anthropology. He is a life fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and a fellow of the Australian Anthropological Society.
He has authored and co-authored numerous books and articles on Aboriginal architecture and Indigenous housing.
In 2009, he was recognized with the Australian Institute of Architects’ Neville Quarry Architectural Education Prize. “Professor Memmott is highly regarded as the leading Australian scholar and applied researcher on Aboriginal housing and settlement,” the jury said.
Memmott is director of the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre at the University of Queensland, which he founded in 1995. He also co-founded the Aboriginal Data Archive in 1976.
He has also received the Neville Bonner Award for Indigenous Education at the Australian Awards for University Teaching in 2009, and the Stanner Award from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies for his 2007 book Gunyah, Goondie + Wurley: Aboriginal Architecture in Australia.
Victoria’s government architect Jill Garner has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia “for significant service to architecture, to professional associations, and to education.”
Garner was appointed Victorian Government Architect in 2015 and was previously Associate Government Architect. She has also been chair of the Victorian Design Review Panel since 2012.
Garner has been a juror for numerous design competitions and was jury chair for the Victorian government’s Future Homes competition in 2020, the National Gallery of Victoria’s Architecture Commission competition in 2019, and the Southbank by Beulah competition in 2018.
She is a life fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and her practice Garner Davis Architects has received Institute awards for institutional and commercial architecture.
Garner Davis Architects, together with Bates Smart, is providing pro bono design services for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre’s new hub in Dandenong in south-east Melbourne.