Yanchep Lagoon Aviary

Our shortlisted public art proposal for the Yanchep Lagoon Primary School Aviary generates a functional but highly sculptural structure drawing inspiration from its landscape, flora, fauna and local indigenous culture. It seeks to establish a new central focus or gathering space for the school. Multi faceted, it is at the same time a meeting point, a place for social interaction, a place evoking discussion, a place eliciting the imagination and a place for informal learning about our native wildlife as well as indigenous culture.

The birds are housed in an organic enclosure encouraging the students to observe and interact with them in as natural environment as possible. The angled structural poles reference Yanget the native species of flax covering large expanses of Yanchep’s landscape. The aviary footprint employs the circle as an inclusive shape. The circle is a social facilitator in almost all cultures including Aboriginal culture.

Sections of the aviary will also be adorned by woven netting referencing Aboriginal fish trap and basket weaving which is likely to have occurred in the area. This also replicates the process birds typically engage in weaving collected objects to create their nests.