Collingwood Housing Estate
clientVictorian Government
Collingwood, Melbourne
locationArt Direction + Community Engagement + Public Art Strategy
SCOPE20 Storeys, 62 Meters
SCALE01 overviewPublic housing deserves world-class art too.
In 2018, Juddy Roller worked with artist Adnate and the Victorian Government to transform the city-facing wall of a Collingwood public housing tower into one of Melbourne’s most significant works of public art.
Stretching the full height of the 20-storey building, the monumental mural depicts four people who called the estate home — placing residents, rather than an abstract concept or external identity, at the centre of the artwork.
At the time of completion, it was reported as the tallest mural in the Southern Hemisphere. But scale was only part of its significance. The project used one of Melbourne’s most visible surfaces to celebrate a community that had too often been viewed from the outside.
Public art became a way to make the community visible, on its own terms.
02 the OPPORTUNITYVisibility with meaning.
The Collingwood Housing Estate is impossible to separate from Melbourne’s inner north. Built in the 1960s, its high-rise towers have been part of the suburb's physical and social landscape for generations.
Rather than treating the architecture as something to disguise, Juddy Roller saw an opportunity to work with it.
The ambition was to create an artwork at a scale worthy of the building while ensuring the people represented on it came from the community itself.
Working alongside Collingwood Neighbourhood House, Adnate spent time within the estate and held pop-up events where residents could learn about the project and meet the artist. That process ultimately informed the selection of the four residents portrayed in the finished work.
The building wasn't simply the canvas. The community was the subject.
03 the PEOPLEFour residents. One monumental portrait of community.
Arden Watson-Cropley
Six-year-old Arden lived with his mother Liz on the ninth floor of the Collingwood tower when he was selected for the mural — with the family's bathroom window ultimately sitting behind the eyes of his enormous portrait. After learning his face would become part of the building, Arden had a wonderfully simple response: "I'm going to be six forever."
Ni Na Nguyen
Five-year-old Ni Na was growing up in the Collingwood Housing Estate with her mother when she was selected for the mural. An Australian-Vietnamese member of the community, her portrait represents one of its youngest generations and the multicultural identity that has long shaped Collingwood.
Badria Abdo
Originally from Oromia, Ethiopia, Badria came to Australia as a refugee in 2006 after spending more than seven years in a refugee camp in Kenya. A grandmother and resident of the Collingwood Housing Estate, Badria's portrait forms a powerful part of the mural's celebration of migration, resilience and belonging.
Yulius Antares Taime
Originally from West Papua, Yulius was one of the estate's newer residents when the project began, having arrived in Australia just over a year earlier. His inclusion reflects the many journeys and cultures that come together within the Collingwood community.
04 the PROCESSCurated, not simply supplied.
Creating a mural at this scale required more than selecting an artist and painting a wall.
Community engagement formed part of the creative process from the outset. Adnate worked with the local community and Collingwood Neighbourhood House, including artist pop-ups that allowed residents to meet him, understand the project and participate in the process that would determine who appeared on their building.
Juddy Roller's role extended from artistic commissioning and community engagement through to the production of a mural across the full elevation of a functioning residential tower.
The result was not artwork applied to a community. It was artwork created with people in mind.
The building wasn't simply the canvas. The community was the subject.
Painting across a 20-storey residential tower turned an intimate portrait project into a major technical undertaking.
Adnate's four portraits were composed vertically across the building's city-facing elevation, creating an artwork visible not only throughout Collingwood but from high-rise buildings in Melbourne's CBD. Contemporary coverage described the work as visually connecting the city's commercial centre with the public-housing community of the inner north.
The scale generated attention.
The people gave it meaning.
I think that's an important distinction to make throughout this case study. You don't want it sounding as though “big mural = success.”