On March 25, the Brisbane Showgrounds was announced as the site of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Athletes Village. Join LatStudios and Blaklash for a slow lap of the Showgrounds, exploring the fabric of this historic and culturally rich Brisbane icon and emerging inner-city precinct, as it prepares to embrace catalytic change for its future.
This walk invites participants to reflect on the layers of history embedded in the site—from its agricultural and community roots to its evolving urban fabric. Together, we’ll consider what it means for a place of rich historical and cultural significance to take on a new identity as a key Olympic site, and how design, culture, and community voices can shape its future.
LatStudios is an award-winning, multidisciplinary design collective of urban designers, landscape architects, architects, and landscape planners. Their design culture is drawn from a shared appreciation that the success of a place – regardless of scale or function – is fundamentally determined by responsiveness to environment and context. They are passionate about achieving positive, intergenerational outcomes, and are in the privileged position of shaping cities, places, and environments. They acknowledge the responsibility through their work to support the health and wellbeing of Country by respecting, valuing and being guided by First Nations people.
Blaklash are First Nations designers, curators and placemakers. Their purpose is to create a platform for First Nations agency through Country-led architecture, art and design. As custodians of the stories they are entrusted with, they translate First Nations perspectives into all that they do, ultimately influencing better social outcomes for tomorrow. At the heart of this is a focus on community, culture, and environment. This frame of reference feeds directly into their ways of working. Blacklash enriches public spaces with the end goal of strengthening the connection between people and Country. Their community-celebrated projects are the product of collaboration and reciprocal relationships throughout the ideation, design, and delivery process.