For the hub this week, we have handed the reigns over to Interior Design Graduate Evan Clezy to reflect on his journey from being a student at RMIT to working at Architectus. Here, he shares his recent experience working with KIN Fashion for the Melbourne Fashion Festival. To hear more about this process, click through to this interview on our Insights page.
I started as a student interior designer at Architectus in mid-2019. In semester one I undertook a partnership studio between Architectus and RMIT. This was a fantastic foresight into the workings of a large professional practice, and the office environment. After the final studio presentation, I was offered a casual position.
I had always shown interest in working on smaller interventions, ones that are more focused towards community engagement. In 2020, I worked on a small Pavilion for the Footscray community library, presenting the design to the future users of the space and providing them with a platform to voice their thoughts and opinions.
I was invited to be involved in MFF First Nations Pavilion project by my colleague Catherine Keys. Her strong experience in events was a huge help and she gave great insight into this design process.
During my Honours thesis I spent a lot of time in northeast Victoria on Taungurung and Yorta Yorta land, researching into modes of care on Country. I was very lucky and got to be involved in a couple of cool burns with First Nations people from the Pangerang community around Shepperton and Wangaratta. For my own development I found it very important and beneficial being able to bring these past experiences from an educational institution into a professional practice.
It was a very beautiful process having regular design discussions with KIN Fashion and collectively resolving the project. The fast pace nature of designing a pavilion, with its short life cycle, is a very different experience to the majority of projects I have been involved in at Architectus.
It was an amazing opportunity networking with members of the consortium at the reception event at government house. Attending the First Nations runway was a first for me, I felt very lucky being able to see the beautiful works created by the nine designers in such an amazing setting.
As a person in the early stages of their career I think one of the most important things for me has been voicing my own aspirations. As we progress our understanding of where we want to be situated within the world of Architecture and design, being vocal about these thoughts and decisions gives others an opportunity to position you within your own areas of interest.
Interior Design Graduate Evan Clezy with Senior Interior Designer Catherine Keys at the recent MFF event.