Melbourne’s got a rep for culture, coffee, and sprawling suburbs—but at what cost?
That’s the burning question the creative brains at Monash University are asking the world, as they get ready to put Australia on blast at one of the most prestigious design events on the planet.
Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) has been named Australia’s official representative at the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition—and they’re not pulling any punches with their exhibition, titled Australia: Land Use Inequality.
Kicking off in Italy from 13 May to 9 November 2025, the Triennale is a massive deal in the art, design and architecture world. It’s where the world’s brightest creatives come to throw ideas into the global ring—and Monash is taking the opportunity to call out Melbourne’s problematic addiction to urban sprawl.
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Through massive video installations, the Monash team will show how our city’s obsession with building big homes on cheap fringe land is quietly wrecking ancient ecosystems, rare habitats, and Indigenous cultural sites.
The exhibition zooms in on three Melbourne growth hotspots:
- Beveridge (north): Where development is scraping away the already fragile Volcanic Plains Grasslands—less than 1 per cent of which is still intact.
- Cranbourne (south-east): Where the endangered Southern Brown Bandicoot is getting pushed out by backyards, pets, and disappearing green corridors.
- Sunbury (north-west): Where new estates are creeping into sacred Indigenous sites, including ancient Bora Rings.
“In recent years, a significant population increase, tax policies and inflation has led to a housing supply and affordability crisis in Melbourne,” said Professor Louise Wright, one of the minds behind the project.
“To address this crisis, large supplies of land continue to be rezoned on the city’s edge for low-rise housing that can be delivered quickly.
“These lands hold ecological values essential for the life of vegetation, animals, birds and insects endemic to Australia and some under threat of extinction. Yet despite the critical need to protect this non-human life, inefficient land use continues.”
It’s a bold message—and perfectly in tune with this year’s Triennale theme: Inequalities. Across the board, creatives from around the world will be exploring the growing gaps in access, power, and resources in our cities and societies. Monash’s contribution brings Australia’s environmental inequality into sharp focus—where nature and culture are losing out.
Australia: Land Use Inequality opens May 13 at Triennale Milano.
