Breathe Architecture has designed Home Truth, the 2024 National Gallery of Victoria Architecture Commission, a thought-provoking installation that challenges Australia's prevailing housing norms.

Taking the form of a labyrinthine house-within-a-house, Home Truth invites audiences to envision an alternative way of building homes.

Highlighting how small-scale architecture can create homes that are more sustainable, higher-quality and community-oriented, "it presents a powerful yet elegant commentary on our nation's ranking as the country with the largest average house size on Earth," said Breathe.

An external house frame represents the oversized silhouette of the average Australian home.

Nestled inside the silhouette is a quiet, reflective timber volume that represents the footprint of a smaller-scale home.

As a result, this project questions the ethical and ecological impact of very large homes.

This project has been longlisted in the installation design category of Dezeen Awards 2025.

Studio: Breathe Architecture
Project: Home Truth
Credits: National Gallery Victoria, Tom Supple, Drouin West Timber & Truss, SaveBoard and Fuligin Sound