Skins
As per its name, Koodjal Booka skins are custom façade systems created with the people who will live with them.
Each skin can connect a home to Country, community, culture and family identity, making every place distinctly its own.
Inspired by the elements
Earth, fire, air and water are presented here as examples of how art can influence the form and feeling of a home.
They are not intended to define what these elements mean for every community. Meanings, associations and cultural protocols differ between places and people.
Every final skin would be created through a community led process. Families, artists, Elders and cultural knowledge holders would decide what should be represented, how it should appear and what is appropriate to share.
More than a façade
The skin is the outer layer of a Koodjal Booka home. It influences how the home looks, feels and belongs within its surroundings.
Rather than taking one design and applying it everywhere, we want each skin to respond to the community and Country where the homes will stand. Colours, patterns, materials and forms can change to reflect the people and places they represent.
Every community has its own identities, relationships, knowledge and cultural protocols. The design process begins by listening.
How the skins are created
- Listen: We begin with the community’s priorities, cultural protocols and ideas about what home and belonging mean to them.
- Co-design: Families, artists, Elders and other community nominated participants explore colours, stories, forms and imagery through a locally appropriate design process.
- Develop: The chosen ideas are translated into practical façade concepts that work with the Koodjal Booka building system.
- Review and approve: The community and relevant cultural authorities review the design, its meaning and how it will be used before anything is finalised.
- Make it home: The approved skin becomes part of the home, creating a visible connection between family, community and place.
How we envision: Earth
The Earth studies explore patterns, colours and forms connected with the land.
One concept draws inspiration from the colours and markings of the tiger snake. Another responds to the shapes and colours of the hills of Western Australia. Layered lines and pathways can also express movement, journeys and the ways people connect across Country.
These ideas could be adapted with communities to reflect their own landscapes, plants, animals, stories and relationships with Country.
How we envision: Air
These studies explore the movement of fire, smoke, wind and air.
Patterns inspired by scales, shifting light, ocean waves and flowing lines show how a skin can create rhythm across the outside of a home. The design can change as light moves across it, giving the building a sense of movement and life.
A community might use this element to express wind, seasonal change, ceremony, transformation or other meanings that are appropriate for them to share.
How we envision: Water
The Water studies explore the movement and character of waterways and the ocean.
The concepts draw on the colours, scales and gills of fish, along with the flowing forms of waves and water lines. Repeated panels create a sense of movement across the home, much like water moving through Country.
Each community could develop its own expression of water through local rivers, wetlands, coastlines, rain, aquatic life or stories connected with significant water places.