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Image: Carroll Go-Sam. Are yarning circles the new decal? With requests for yarning circles becoming increasingly commonplace in design briefs, Carroll Go-Sam, Indigenous research fellow in the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre at the University of Queensland’s School of Architecture, writes on ArchitectureAU how they might be more meaningfully incorporated into projects. In the early stages of a project design, she writes, a yarning circle concept is often supported by Indigenous engagement. “But, after the initial meeting and discussion, human-centred design, iterative development, empathetic accommodation, questioning and dialogue all stop, with the result that poor built examples outnumber good ones,” she said. Go-Sam is concerned when yarning circles become “quasi-sacred zones of exclusion, set aside for one day a year during NAIDOC Week.” She outlines five recommendations for designing a yarning …

Greta Thunberg Named Time Person of the Year 2019: The 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine, in a tradition that began in 1927. “Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school: starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk för klimatet: ‘School Strike for Climate’,” Charlotte Alter, Suyin Haynes and Justin Worland write for Time. “In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike …