Peter Ghionis' design for Queensbridge, Falls Gardens.
In 2017, I was responsible for the architectural history stream for Swinburne's new Bachelor of Design (Architecture). The units are integrated with design studios and take a contextual and thematic rather than a chronological approach. They give alternative readings to history that will not always involve the canon!
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In 2020 Ian Woodcock and I taught Memory Architecture: Re-Framing the Margins. This studio explored how architecture and urban design can create public meaning and connection to place through critical siting and expressive design. It engaged with the historical marginalisation of indigenous Australians, women, non-white migrants and others and proposed interventions that re-territorialised the edges of Melbourne’s iconic CBD to disrupt dominant narratives.
Work from this studio was selected to represent Swinburne for an article in The Age (18/12/20) that highlighted new student visions for Melbourne.
Logo by Brandon Gardiner
Based off this work I won two teaching grants (US$19,110) from the Mellon Foundation funded Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative. Our teams presented rapid-response mechanisms that emphasize alternatives trans-national and trans-geographical perspectives to teaching. Our module, 'Comparative Global Empires' is now on the GAHTC website.
In 2015 I created the Design for Dementia Studio. It applied evidence-based principles through design to produce practical knowledge that leads to increased well-being. In collaboration with aged care providers and dementia experts, it implemented transformative approaches to health and well-being outcomes through the application of evidence-based design principles.
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In 2009, I worked with Professors Philip Goad and Hannah Lewi to re-write the architectural history curriculum for revised Bachelor program. These units took a comparative and thematic approach to teaching architectural history. I still return each year to Melbourne University to give guest lectures.