WOMEN IN ACADEMIC ARCHITECTURE

The last five years have seen a shift in academic leadership throughout Australian Universities.

This has included a change within the teaching landscape amongst Melbourne's architectural schools.

The University of Melbourne, Monash University, RMIT University and new comer Swinburne University, all have women leading the way within their architectural departments.

Monash University (MADA) recently appointed Naomi Stead as the Head of the Architecture Department, where her role will begin in Semester 1, 2018. She brings to MADA her areas of architectural knowledge and research, including widely published works within professional journals and magazines. Stead is also an adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland's School of Architecture.

Julie Willis is the Dean and Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, at The University of Melbourne. Willis is an authority on the history of Australian Architecture and co-edited The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture, as well as authored her published work Women Architects in Australia (1900 - 1950).

RMIT University's Vivian Mitsogianni is Deputy Dean of Architecture and Urban Design. Mitsogianni is an alumni of RMIT, having studied her Bachelor of Architecture degree and completed her PhD at the university, She is a partner at M@Studio Architects, and their built work 'Haven't you always wanted...?' was awarded the National Gallery of Victoria's 2016 Summer Pavilion Architectural Commission.

New to the architectural learning space is Swinburne University. Architect Jane Burry is Dean of the School of Design at Swinburne. Burry worked as project architect on Antoni Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, which is currently under ongoing construction. Swinburne University will introduce its new Bachelor of Design (Architectiure) degree in semester 1 2018, with a Master of Design (Architecture) to follow in 2021.

Mentoring students and providing a contemporary platform, pushing the academic boundaries, questioning ideas and theories, in conjunction with rigorous research and studies, has always been at the forefront of Melbourne's architectural schools. In addition to the traditional ways of teaching architecture, these recent academic appointments brings a renewed perspective to the pedagogy at our universities.