timor leste embassy

current

canberra

Architect's Design Statement

Strategies

Our strategy for this design is to represent in Canberra the new nation of Timor Leste -  via their Embassy building and its architecture.

We choose not to achieve that connection by duplicating an indigenous style, but rather by taking clues from the architecture and culture of the half-island, and applying that evidence to our creative work.

Background

We first visited Timor Leste in February 2000, at the invitation of the then leaders, Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta - who are now President and Prime Minister of the nation.

Our task then was to seek information on the ground and provide advice for reconstruction of the damaged places. Resulting from that visit we have maintained a continuous pattern of traveling to and through the country, meeting people and advising where appropriate on reconstruction strategies and empowerment processes.

We have seen months of   military operations, international forces and the UN contingent, unrest and the barest of rebuilding, the development of a democracy, debate and dispute, the celebration of freedom and the inauguration of the new nation, and positive and sad progress.

These experiences have informed our design decisions for the Embassy.

Observations

East Timorese are a proud people. They have an affection for their land - its soil, water, vegetation, animals and people - which is not normal in the developed world.

Although they are a deeply religious people, almost totally dedicated to the Christian Catholic faith, they are also profoundly animist.

They believe that the nature of things -  trees, mountains, crocodiles and the sky -  have souls or a consciousness

As a result of this belief, the fabric of life in Timor Leste has evolved around a heightened respect and praise of natural things, like water, sticks, fruits, leaves, earth and the seasons.

Such a respect for the materials of nature is reflected in the design of this Embassy.

Structures + Planning

The Embassy buildings, as a group, grow out of their soil,   which reflects on the spiritual nature of life in Timor Leste and its deeper connections with nature.

Organic materials, the sweep of a deep terra-cotta roof, a swing bridge that barely scrapes the ground, the 'Timor Leste' gardens and straightforward construction techniques, all echo the mystical simplicity of life in Timor Leste.

This could be a model for the meeting houses and community halls of the nation. Its form reflects traditions of pole houses and twine-fixings, the organistion of space using pavilions that together make up the Embassy collective, suggests a traditional village or 'succo'.

Materials + Textures

The materials of Timor Leste are inappropriate for the harsh climate of Canberra, but we wished to design with a resonance of the country, its woven walls, thatched roofs, timber poles and deep eaves.

Walls are brick patterned to reflect a woven thatch, the roof is terra-cotta shingles patterned like a traditional tais weaving. The lookout bridge hovers over the falling landscape, precarious yet part of a natural form of things.

Spirit

People of Timor Leste believe that a guiding force inhabits and regulates the universe and that people have spirits that do or can exist separately from their bodies. Humans are understood to be part of, and from, their natural place.

Our intention was to create a building of the people of Timor Leste, but located far away from their homeland.

By instilling it with the spirit of its people, we believe any geographical distance is erased. Perhaps that remoteness between locations can be bridged and translated into the real world of diplomacy, politics, community service, education and administration - for which this building functions.

Norman Day

November 2006

chancery building east elevation

chancery building west elevation

chancery building north elevation

chancery building south elevation