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Dr Shaneen Fantin; born 24 June 1971) is an Australian architect. She was part of the first TED Conferences, LLC event in Cairns. Her talk, "Less walls, more life: design in the torrid zone.".

She primarily works on indigenous housing, health and community projects in Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Canada. She is currently an adjunct associate professor at James Cook University, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Early life and education
Dr Shaneen Fantin was born on 24 June 1971 in Gordonvale, Queensland. She grew up on a farm in north Queensland where her family has been for more than three generations.

She attended Trinity Anglican School and Gordonvale State High School. She later went on to pursue a Bachelors in Architecture at the University of Queensland between 1989 and 1994, where she graduated with first class honors. She holds a PhD from the University of Queensland on the relationship between design and culture in Aboriginal housing.

Early Career
Dr Shaneen Fantin joined Troppo Architects as a project architect on March 1995 to January 1996 and again between January 1997 and January 1998. She lectured at the University of South Australia between 2002 and 2003 before moving to become Programme Manager for Arup from July 2003 to June 2005. She then joined edgearchitecture as an Associate for 3 years from March 2006 to February 2009. In 2008 she was also the Award Chair of the Far North Queensland for the Australian Institute of Architects Awards. From 2008 to 2010, she was the Community Engagement Manager at Opus International Consultants Limited. She joined New Future Alliance from June 2009 to December 2010. She was a member of Architects without Frontiers for 3 years from 2009 to 2012. She was the Manager Indigenous Home-ownership Team for The Program Office from November 2011 to February 2014. In 2013 She was the jury for the Far North Queensland Architecture Awards, hosted by the Australian Institute of Architects. In 2014 she joined the Australian Institute of Architects as the Chair of Far North Queensland Committee.

People Oriented Design
Dr Shaneen Fantin established people Oriented Design in February 2009. She met Belinda Allwood in 2011 while volunteering for Emergency Architects Australia on Cyclone Yasi recovery work. After 2 years of collaboration on many projects, Belinda Allwood joined People Oriented Design as co-director. People Oriented Design is a multi-disciplinary design, architecture, project management, community engagement and research practice. People Oriented Design specializes in housing, community development and health projects.

She has a strong working relationships with Arup, Opus International, James Cook University, LA3, Planz Town Planning, Indij Design, WIP, La Spina and Vis Constructions and many other firms of different sizes and expertise.

Notable Projects
Apex Residence, Smithfield, 2001 Dr Shaneen Fantin worked on the design, planning approvals and contract administration during the construction of the 3 Bedroom dwelling built on a sloping site at Smithfield. The Apex residence won the HIA award in 2001 for sustainable design.

Tully Support Centre Master Plan and remedial works, 2011-2013 She worked with Shane Greenwood of Tully Support Centre to assess the damage done by cyclone Yasi. She worked on the master planning, design and project management.

Wabu Gadum Bulmba Gurriny Mukanji Centre, 2013 A project for supported health accommodation for Aboriginal and Islander people. The project started in 2011 and she had to come up with concept design that meet the traditional requirements of the traditional owner’s briefs as well as health provider briefs, Australian Standards for disability access, the Livable Housing Design Guidelines.

Multi-residential Development, Martyn Street, Cairns, 2014 The project was to build two four-bedroom town houses. The difficulty was in the unusual shape of the site that required careful planning to fit the two buildings. Construction commenced 2014.

Argentea Residence, New 4-Bedroom house, 2014, Palm Cove. She had to design a dwelling with the aim of reducing carbon footprint to meet the client’s needs at a low cost. The construction of the dwelling included plantation timbers, low emissions materials and LED lighting. The house has more than a 6 star energy rating.

Awards

 * 2010: AIM Finalist Professional Manager of the Year, Northern Territory


 * 2005: Year of the Built Environment Award for Program Management of the OATSIH (Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health) Capital Works Program.


 * 2000: Awarded a Northern Territory History Award by the Northern Territory State Archives for research into Yolngu housing and culture change in northeast Arnhem Land.