Burra burawa birrung gili (eel above countless generations of starlight)

Lead Designers Bettina Easton, Anjana Ravishankar

Entry Description

In the heart of the city, service lanes are often forgotten spaces in the lexicon of place-making – and Phillip Lane in the Paramatta CBD suffered from this aesthetic neglect. We partnered with Darug Elder & Knowledge Holder, Uncle James Carrol and Awakabal Artist, Matthew Fellingham for a City of Parramatta design competition, winning with a sculptural artistic lighting concept that fuses First Nations knowledge, culture and history with the contemporary multicultural identity of the city.

The installation celebrates the connection between the First Nations and the eel (Burra), which had spiritual and ceremonial importance to the people of the area. ‘Burra burawa birrung gili’ (eel above countless generations of starlight) transforms the laneway into a social activation lodestone through the interaction of colour and illumination – using both sunlight and at night, electrical LED lighting.

The handcrafted steel mother Burra (eel) winds down the lane, with the child Burras in infinity loops inset with coloured acrylic panels accompanying her journey to the Parramatta River. During the day, shifting patterns of colour and shading elevate the throughway, at night programmable LED lighting and a light projector created a rippling, rainbow realm. The design also incorporated technology to programme the lighting into a variety of hues, intensities and rhythms for special events.

Sustainability Approach

This installation has transformed an unwelcoming space that was a magnet for anti-social activities with minimal alteration to the existing urban fabric and no waste of embodied carbon. Colour and shape replace paint to uplift the rear walls and loading docks of buildings. The night-time LED lighting meets the relevant standards for safety, amenity and security, replacing the need for street lighting. Instead of security measures that appear forbidding to change behaviour, the installation uses beauty, curiosity and delight to invite positive engagement with the urban realm.

The technical delivery also minimised the footprint, with local fabrication of the burra, design for durability of the acrylic insets, a low-impact catenary suspension system and smart lighting controls that respond to daylight levels to determine the level (if any) of electric light and corresponding energy use.