Here Here

Hear Here is a speculative architectural response, reimagined as an inclusive cultural and performance venue embedded within the diverse urban texture of Melbourne’s Docklands. Designed in collaboration, the project celebrates the acts of listening, learning, and gathering, with architecture that is both sculptural and socially responsive.

The design draws from AI-generated imagery—developed through iterative Midjourney prompt refinements—to synthesize formal expressions influenced by artists like Beyoncé and INXS, architectural precedents such as Tadao Ando’s MPavilion and the Guggenheim Museum, and civic typologies like the Forum Theatre and the Koorie Heritage Trust. These diverse inputs informed both digital workflows and spatial intentions, shaping a building that is dynamic, democratic, and deeply contextual.

The Koorie Sound Shell, embedded in an elevated landscape, becomes the project’s symbolic heart, bridging Indigenous sound traditions with contemporary performance. The building wraps around a central courtyard, welcoming both the public and performers through layered circulation routes, generous gathering spaces, and sweeping facades inspired by the flow of the Yarra River and urban foliage.

Through detailed psychogeographic mapping, the project maintains strong connections to the surrounding city—echoing its diversity, material richness, and cultural rhythms. The architecture supports multiple event modes, from daytime workshops and open park festivities to immersive evening performances, with mixed-reality detailing and atmospheric lighting to guide and enhance each experience.

Hear Here is not just a venue, it is a living, responsive soundscape that celebrates culture in all its forms, emphasizing community engagement, architectural agency in the age of AI, and the role of design as a curator of memory, movement, and meaning.