Architects and designers increasingly embrace activist roles to drive societal change, expanding their influence beyond traditional practice modes of material culture. This reflects a growing recognition of the potential of design as a driver for advocacy and political engagement. This seminar brought together leading practitioners in a conversation, namely Prof Fleur Watson, Curator, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, RMIT University, Jose Luis Vicente, Artistic Director Dhub – Disseny Hub Barcelona, Prof Jamer Hunt, Vice Provost for Transdisciplinary Initiatives at The New School, NYC, and Cristina Gamboa, co-founder of Lacol Arquitectura Cooperativa and associated professor at ETSAB. I was invited to be a respondent alongside Prof Bart Lootsma, Critic, historian and theoretician in architecture, design and the visual arts and Jose Sanchez, Director of Plethora-Project.com and Assistant Professor at USC School of Architecture in Los Angeles.

I presented my Milestone 2 at the Practice Research Symposium(PRS) at Bau College of Art and Design in Barcelona, as part of my Co-tutelle with RMIT University and Queens University Belfast. The PRS is an intensive, twice-yearly gathering of research candidates, supervisors and guests. It facilitates collective learning and is the tangible focus of a learning community for practice research.

I was invited to present in the UCD Centre for Irish Towns (CfIT) – Talking Towns seminar series on Thursday March 28th, 1-2pm. The series aims to spark conversations about the challenges facing Irish towns, the opportunities they offer and the role of research and policy in bringing about the revitalisation of towns in Ireland. I will be specifically talking about the process and impact of Housing Unlocked, the exhibition I delivered with the Irish Architecture Foundation and the Housing Agency 2022-2023. The presentations will be followed by a group Q&A and the seminar will be recorded and uploaded on the CfIT YouTube channel.

Held in Barcelona twice a year, open only to PhD research candidates from across Europe who are part of the RMIT Practice Based Research and affiliated universities. The PRS provides an opportunity for shared reflection between researchers, supervisors and peer networking.

Invited by Villanova’s University Centre for Irish Studies to present at a symposium on Sustainability at The Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco.

Published on 5th January 2024 RIAI online Nathalie Weadick talks to Livia Hurley about her career to date, and the culture and curation of architecture in Ireland.

This is the unedited introduction text written from the subjective perspective of being the director and instigator of Housing Unlocked for a proposed publication. An Edited Version was published in the book Ideas from a Living Room by the IAF in October 2023.

Conversational style transcription from a work in progress PhD Review presentation