Jack Gillmer's inspiration to become an architect came from his own hands.
The Worimi and Biripi guri (man) had always been interested in design, and as a child remembers playing in the mud with his brother, creating canals, mountains and habitats for animals.
"I always liked getting my hands dirty and playing in the mud as a kid and I still kind of like doing that - if I go to the beach you'll always find me digging holes and creating little mountains," Gillmer told AAP.
Gillmer sees his work as an artistic practice and an opportunity for storytelling, but it was a stint in Paris, through his 2024 galang residency program, which helped him explore new ways of being an architect.
"I wanted to use more of an artistic sculptural medium, casting and pouring plasters, sculpting and etching plaster panels," he said.
"I think it was more about that process of creation and thinking about things a little differently that really unlocks another layer of what architecture can become."
Gillmer said the residency, a partnership between Powerhouse Parramatta and the Cité internationale des art in Paris, was a massive opportunity for him.
He used the three-month stint to explore the display, treatment and storage of cultural heritage objects in institutions like museums, and reframing these same institutional spaces through an Indigenous lens.
"Through this process I was looking at this idea of a temporary space within an institution that is a space where we can reckon with these materials and have these conversations," he said.
"It's an Indigenised space effectively, that's designed to have these conversations that reflect the communities that would be collaborating and having these conversations within these institutions."
Gillmer said his time in Paris not only offered the luxury of time to work on the project but also generated new opportunities, including being appointed a creative director of the Australian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
The impact of the residency will be long-lasting, Gillmer said, with plans to continue to develop his process, and connect back to his first architectural inspiration.
"In part, the residency has really transformed the way I'm going to practice as an architect in my discipline and the work that I'll be doing for the rest of my life," he said.
"Being a bit more hands-on, walking away from the pen and paper and the drawing table ... really diving back into what it was that interested me to become an architect as a child, playing in the dirt."
Applications for the 2025 galang residency are open until January 31.
