In larrakia country, the 2025 Emerging Architect Prize Tour reached Darwin with Maiya McKenna of Rossi Architects sharing a talk that was as much about finding your place in the profession as it was about architecture itself. Maiya arrived in Darwin after a difficult period and found, at Rossi, freedom, voice, and the slow realisation that she had value as a young person in the industry. The centrepiece of her talk was the Larrakia Cultural Centre, a project five years in the making, $8 million over budget at one point, involving curved geometry she joked she'd never attempt again, that she led from start to finish. What came through clearly was the advocacy work that sits beneath the visible architecture: protecting cultural specifics while telling a strong story to different audiences, integrating art with intent, and championing what she called "nice fluffy ideas" — the design story and emotional logic of a building — to builders and stakeholders who might otherwise dismiss them. That framing connected directly to what I shared about beauty and joy: both are easy to label as optional or merely aesthetic, and both are in fact evidence of care, commitment, and deep listening to the people a building is for.
View of Fannie Bay from Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory by Kali
The Q&A in Darwin was generous and searching. A thread on listening ran through the whole evening: how do you know when to speak and when to be quiet? Both Maiya and I landed in the same place — listen first, make space, try to hear what isn't being said, and reflect back what you've understood before moving forward. Katy, who had nominated us both, drew out a shared thread of humility, commitment, and community, and asked what advice we'd offer someone who can't yet choose work aligned with their values. Again, Maiya and I arrived at the same answer almost simultaneously: you have agency in how you treat the people around you, every day, regardless of the project. Your sphere of influence starts there. And if work isn't yet the place where you can live by your values, your community outside work can be — competitions, volunteering, EmAGN, a patternbook made on the side with a friend who had an idea and wouldn't let it go.
Maiya, Kali, and Katy
"Humility, commitment, and community." — Words describing both speakers by Katy Moir in the text she wrote to nominate both Kali and Maiya for the prize