The Guesthouse Project: refugees, migration and inclusive communities through design

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BACKGROUND The Guesthouse Project contributes to the broad field of interior design and the narrow field of 'urban interiors'. It addresses how to apply the practice of interior design to urban environments. Key institutions/figures in debate: Politenico di Milano; University CEU San Pablo Madrid; raumlabor.berlin, S. Attiwill, R. Hinkel, D. Hill, T. Holbrook, P. Misselwitz. CONTRIBUTION The gap in knowledge I focus on is how to apply interior design strategies to open up the contemporary city and make space for marginalised communities. The Guesthouse Project focuses asylum-seekers and migrants. It applies the relational strategies of the interior designer to design and construct a temporary urban space instigating events of cross-cultural sharing and exchange. It was a practice-led investigation into how design might be leveraged to generate social cohesion at the local scale. The first design outcome was a series of pop-ups experimentally adapting the traditional guesthouse to a refugee context. The second produced play equipment for refugee playgroups. The project expanded knowledge in the field of urban interiors by applying Suzie Attiwill's theoretical notion of the relationally focused 'interiorist' to a practical context. The methods were accordingly participatory, phenomenological and open process. The project also addressed the issue of temporary urban design and enduring impact. Project stakeholders: local migrants, RMIT Interior Design (hons) students, raumlabor.berlin, VICSEG, and myself as project leader. SIGNIFICANCE The project got extensive media coverage and has won two awards: Winner Built Environment Award in New York based Core77 2017 Awards and 3rd place in Australian Design Review top projects of 2016. Funding came from: Goethe-Institut $2300, Michael Boltman Trust $7000, SRC $5770, Moreland City Council $5000. Media visibility led to an invitation from the Governor of Victoria to be involved in a similar project at Government House.