News Archive

UWA Adjunct Professor and graduate Adrian Fini OAM was named Western Australian of the Year in the weekend.

The property developer and commerce graduate has been a key contributor to the urban design and development landscape in Perth since 1977. Saving and creating some of our city’s most iconic buildings, Adrian’s latest venture, the State Buildings, was officially opened by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in late 2015.

Adrian has had a long association with the Australian Urban Design Research Centre, AUDRC, and is a valuable board member. The Centre, which is part of UWA’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts (ALVA), is dedicated to improving the quality of urban places in Australia and to engaging with the big issues facing the city, the State and the nation through research, education and advocacy.

Through a generous donation to the Faculty, Adrian is supporting a series of publications that will create a vital platform to discuss the urban futures of Perth and Western Australia, aiming to engage key decision makers and stakeholders in shaping our cities and towns.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of committees at State government and industry level for more than 20 years, I can see Perth needs a lot of urban help. It’s a suburban city, whereas the great cities we all love and travel to are generally urban cities. Perth’s design needs a lot more discussion and debate,” says Adrian.

“At a council level, many people do not have an architectural or design background. This is about educating the decision makers and addressing the social and health issues associated with poor planning,” says Adrian.

“Through this series of professional publications, we will see if we can move the dial five degrees.”

UWA graduates Warwick Hemsley and Dr John van Bockxmeer were also recognised on the weekend for the outstanding contribution to Western Australia.

You can find a full list of winners here .

Photo credit:Matthew Galligan