Student Profiles

Kate Ferguson

Graduate Architect
Master of Architecture

I was initially interested in the Interior Architecture course, but after the joint Architecture/Interior Architecture first year decided that Architecture was the right thing for me and swapped courses.

I made a great bunch of friends because Architecture is quite a close-knit course. I enjoyed the later years because we were allocated studio space so we could work at uni and share ideas, which was really important to my learning. I had some great teachers at Curtin, and appreciate the diversity of people who bring different expertise to the course.

In 2007 I initiated a Design-Build project with my Papua New Guinean friend Rosemary Korawali, in a coastal village in PNG. The project was supported by the Curtin Vice Chancellor and Faculty of Humanities. A team of Australian and PNG architecture students worked together in the village to design and build a health centre in collaboration with the local community. We learnt a lot about sustainable development and construction, made some wonderful friends, spent time exploring the jungle and learnt to cook bananas in an amazing variety of ways.

I currently work for Armstrong Parkin Architects in Fremantle. It’s a great office and I have learnt a lot working on the design and documentation of Trade Training Centres in high schools.

I’ve done some part-time tutoring at Curtin since I graduated, and enjoy getting back there and talking to students about their ideas.

In late 2009 I started working collaboratively on a voluntary basis with a landscape architect and architect in Melbourne to start a non-profit company called [co]design studio (community oriented design). [co]design is a multi-disciplinary design studio offering whole project solutions to community development projects, and offers a platform for young professionals to become involved in grass-roots work. We currently have over 30 volunteers working on 4 projects.

I think architecture is a great course for people who are creative and enjoy practical problem-solving, however it’s a long, intense course, so not for the faint-hearted! The course teaches you to synthesise a lot of knowledge and ideas (a bit of art, theory, science, technology) in a creative way. It’s a discipline that is tied to culture, and offers the chance to make a positive contribution to the world around us.