Kickstarting a career in the creative industries requires planning, preparation and a few pearls of wisdom. Here, we pair Monash Art, Design and Architecture graduates with leaders in the field for a series of conversations about how they found their feet, lessons learnt and the future of creative work.

Pushing Against the Status Quo

Interview by Haroula Karapanagiotidis

Image: Timothy Moore and Haroula Karapanagiotidis at Monash Art, Design and Architecture. Photography: Amelia Stanwix.

Challenging the way people live, work and practise architecture seems to come as second nature for Timothy Moore – a renowned Melbourne designer and director of Sibling Architecture. With polymathic experience across architecture, arts and commerce, Timothy demonstrates a refreshing, critical-thinking approach to making spaces more equitable.

Sibling approaches each project as an opportunity-finding exercise, enabling the emergence of a bold and compelling visual language. In their hands, architecture becomes a tool for transformation.

As a recent Master of Architecture graduate from Monash Art, Design and Architecture, now working in practice, I’m inspired by Sibling’s dynamic approach to considering new ways of engaging with architecture and society.  No doubt many other students and young professionals will benefit from Timothy’s creative enthusiasm and insight into the complexities and joys of the field!

What did you study at university and why?

I’m a perpetual learner. I have studied degrees in architecture, arts and commerce, which culminated in completing a PhD in architecture in 2021. What drives me is an interest in how the world is constructed and how to intervene to make things more socially and economically equitable.

Study in architecture provided me with multi-scalar and -temporal skills – thinking across time and space – which are translatable in many careers in the built environment, and perhaps many careers yet to be invented. In particular, building becomes a way to think through complex ideas that have tangible impacts in the world, from the scale of the building to the scale of the city.

Image: Glassbook House by Sibling Architecture. Photography: Katherine Lu.

What was the first job you had after university, and what valuable lessons did you learn there?

I began working in an architecture office in my third year at university, and since then I have worked in several offices – in Amsterdam, Berlin and Melbourne – before working as a director at Sibling Architecture.

The most valuable lesson, and an obvious one, is to show self-initiative. Don’t wait to be asked. It’s also the same in practice. Don’t wait for the phone to ring. Don’t wait for government to catch up with policy. Architecture trains you to think through action – so get on with it.

What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever been given?

Aim high for the position you want – even if you feel you are not qualified. Put your CV, and face, in front of people, even if you don’t want the job or feel like it is not the right timing. It may lead to opportunities down the track.

How did you build your professional network?

I was a bit of an extracurricular fanatic at architecture school. I co-founded an architecture talk series at university (which is still going), made my own publication, volunteered for professional bodies and enthusiastically went to a zillion talks and presentations. I met a phalanx of professionals at these events, but I also met a lot of peers who would be future colleagues in the industry.

How did you establish a professional style?

Sibling was founded by its directors while still studying at architecture school. We shared a studio in Mitchell House in Melbourne, so I think our style developed from spending countless hours (over years) teaching each other how to ‘architect’.

Our style is a manner of thinking rather than an aesthetic style. We are interested in social opportunities in architecture, which is places and spaces where people come together, whether in civic or residential architecture. Each project has a fresh approach to this.

What key values underpin your work?

Sibling is interested in civic-ness, that is the places, buildings and things we all share and the rituals and meaning that stem from them. With each project, we are keen to inject social moments because we believe that different people coming together for purposes larger than themselves strengthens society by fostering mutual understanding and respect.

Image: Glassbook House by Sibling Architecture. Photography: Katherine Lu.

Do you have any kernels of wisdom for emerging graduates?

Are you looking for a pageant answer? [Laughs] Don’t accept the status quo in the industry. Challenge it.

What excites you the most about the work you do?

The challenges that are faced by architects and designers are immense: all of the complex problems that encircle us – such as climate justice and spatial inequity – play out in each project. This is exhilarating – thinking through urban design, spatial planning, building works, interior architecture and policy to transform lives is invigorating. Every day has a new problem to solve. That’s the beauty of architecture – the role it plays as an intermediary in the issues that intersect our lives and its ability to solve these issues in order to transform how we live.

Haroula Karapanagiotidis is an architecture graduate working at Walter&Walter. In 2020, she received the Hayball Award for the Top Graduating Student in the Master of Architecture at Monash Art, Design and Architecture.

Timothy Moore is Director of Research at Sibling Architecture, Senior Lecturer of Architecture at Monash Art, Design and Architecture and Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria.