Norman Frank Jupurrurla is a Warumungu elder who co-founded Wilya Janta – an innovative Aboriginal not-for-profit cultural consultancy that promotes community agency in the design and construction of housing in Indigenous communities.
Norman lives with his family at Village Camp near Tennant Creek where during summer, temperatures regularly reach 40 degrees for weeks at a time, sometimes getting up to 49 degrees on the hottest days. The hot and dry Central Australian deserts where many Indigenous Australians live are on the climate change front line, with locals at risk of heat-related health problems and deaths. Existing houses are often thermally inefficient, lack reliable power and are unsuitable for the local environment.
In co-founding Wilya Janta, Norman’s mission is to provide culturally safe and climate appropriate housing. Wilya Janta puts the tenant at the centre of the housing design process with the core aim of building appropriate, affordable, scalable, thermally efficient, off-grid and climate resilient housing.