Jet sits in the sweet spot where creative pursuits collide. Once a professional musician and illustrator, he was pulled to architecture’s interdisciplinary approach. He’s found it to be a field where his lived experiences and natural creativity offer value to the built environment.

With experience bridging residential, multi-residential, commercial and education projects, Jet’s expertise spans from schematic design to contract documentation. His UniSA Master of Architecture thesis was awarded the Hodgkison Graduate Prize for excellence, and the Architecture Practice Board of S.A.’s 2013 Travelling Prize in Architecture. As a practitioner still very much engaged in architectural research, he’s been a sessional tutor at UniSA and Monash Art Design and Architecture School.

Jet considers his work to be an assemblage of ideological references from architects of the modern, post modern, and contemporary period. He’s always been drawn to the humanistic qualities of Alvar Aalto's architecture. And Japan, where traditional and contemporary architecture styles fuse and there’s an admirable commitment to design excellence and local manufacturing.

Jet’s experience writing songs and performing in bands has lent itself well to collaborating and getting the best out of others. He also has the wisdom to know when to take stock of a burst of inspiration and when to recharge. One day, he’d love to see the architecture industry become a little less earnest and take itself a little less seriously to better spread its valuable messages into the mainstream.

Jet O'Rourke