The architecture program at Western Sydney is one of the youngest in Australia, servicing one of the most diverse and dynamic cohorts of students imaginable. With a vast number of important architectural projects over the last few years, Western Sydney is now an incubator of creative design projects at all scales and layers of complexity. The importance of architecture in these broader cycles of urban transformation is significant, not only shaping the quality of buildings that we work and live in, but also the cities, streets and urban spaces we share as a community. 

I am delighted to be a part of the project of architecture in Western Sydney and to work with the talented pool of students and staff that our program attracts. As the program continues to grow, these students will shape the communities, environments and architecture of this important region as well as many others. This exhibition, in the heart of the Parramatta CBD, is the start of an important and ongoing conversation in which young, talented and wonderfully capable young people can engage creatively with the significant issues and pressures of the city and its urban centres.