We worked alongside Corey Turner from Southern Cultural Immersion and Kaurna Elders to understand and combine Kaurna culture into the landscape design and artwork features.

Storytelling of the land gave inspiration for character to the precinct as being a meeting and gathering place. The story of the importance of the Karrawirraparri (River Torrens) within the country to provide and connect with others. This direct connection was explored within the streetscape by the gathering of food, knowledge, leadership, medicinal and passage.

The storytelling within the landscape expands this relationship of the Karrawirraparri to the heaven. The telling of ‘Monana’ throwing his spears up into the sky to climb and creating the Wodliparri (Milky Way), the river of the night sky was inspiration. The use of light within the landscaping was important to complement the duality of these plains within the landscape. Overlayed onto the streetscape is a section of Karrawirraparri with the use of pavers. As the river bends and flows over each side of the street, giving resting places along the riverbanks. The understory plantings are the reeds and grasses along the river.

The use of light was also used to connect with the landscape, in particular uplighting to the trees at night is to direct the focus upward to the Wodliparri. There is a use of art to tell this story of Monana throwing his spear and backing light giving the rising into the night sky.

Using the narrative of the riverbanks and native plants. Local artists Nicholas Folland, Gregg Mitchell and Quentin Gore created feature pieces to the forecourt of the Civic Centre. With continuation of the story of the streetscape, the artworks are an abstraction of native food plants found and used in the Adelaide plains, such as Pelargonium, Acacia pycnantha and Billardiera cymose.

The Woodville Road Streetscape Upgrade has been a successful outcome that has brought a connection to country along with a vibrant streetscape design.

“My father’s great-grandfather (or ancestor) said – Monana threw many spears, here threw, here threw, by and by a spear upwards threw, the spear above stuck fast, again stuck fast, again spear stuck fast, by and by in the ground stuck fast, Monana (by the) spears climbed, above went.”

This statement is in the words of Monaicha wonweetpeena konoocha or “Captain Jack”

The is the only extant Dreaming story ever recorded in the Kaurna language and was spoken by Kadlipinna (Captain Jack) to Dr William Wyatt, the Protector of Aborigines from 1837 to 1839.

It is a powerful story as it tells of the ascension of one of the creator ancestors to the sky world.

"MASH" - Organic terrazzo forms that celebrate indigenous food plant species of the Adelaide plains and the diverse multicultural of the City of Charles Sturt.