story: legacy piece
Shaping Legacy Through Practice, Not Prestige
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Some architects find the profession. Others build their way into it — literally.
Jovan joined our practice in 2024 and has brought with him over two decades of experience, grounded technical knowledge, and a deeply thoughtful approach to design. His path into architecture began with timber, geometry, and the quiet rhythm of pencil on paper. Growing up watching his dad work as a carpenter, Jovan was drawn to the idea that one day, something he sketched might be brought to life — not just imagined, but built.
“I wanted to draw something that my dad could actually build,” he recalls. “That was the earliest pull toward architecture.”
It wasn’t an artistic whim — it was precise, almost mathematical. With a sharp mind for geometry and a love for technical drawing, Jovan was already sketching perspective views by hand before most of us knew what a section cut was. From there, the path unfolded through college, then into the architecture program at the University of Canberra — a career quietly and steadily built over 25 years.
While some of us enter the field to change the skyline, Jovan’s satisfaction has always come from something quieter: solving problems, drawing them properly, and watching it come to life — whether it’s a balcony detail or a whole building taking shape.
“Every project deserves the same energy and passion,” he says. “Big or small, they each have a problem to solve. That’s what I enjoy.”
And solve them he does — with a mix of sharp technical thinking, generous mentorship, and a surprising amount of disco and Lego. Yes, Lego.
“I’m a very visually driven architect. Lego gives you a surface, a form, without needing to bolt or screw it together. I’m not interested in the mechanics — I want to see how it looks when it all comes together.”
That same visual instinct follows him onto the football pitch, too. “Vision” isn’t just a term reserved for architects. As a player, Jovan loves creating movement — arcs of a ball curling into space, reading a game like a plan. It’s fluid problem-solving in motion.
When asked what project he’s most proud of, he doesn’t name a high-profile commission or design award. Instead, it’s the moment his kids pointed to a building he worked on and said, “That’s Daddy’s building.” Or perhaps his work on the Australian War Memorial’s exhibition spaces, where history, design, and cultural memory intersected in a meaningful way.
“It’s not about the size of the project. It’s about what it meant — to the users, to the process, and to me.”