Julie Willis

Biography

Professor Julie Willis is Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at the University of Melbourne, and a co-founder of Parlour. Prior to becoming Dean, she was Pro Vice Chancellor (Research Capability) from 2013 to 2016. Julie is an architectural historian and educator whose research focuses on Australian architecture. She has published widely on topics including the development of modern hospital architecture in Australia; the importance of public buildings in community, civic and national identity; architecture during wartime and its subsequent impact on practice and production; and equity and diversity in architecture. She has twice won the Australian Institute of Architects Bates Smart Award for Architecture in the Media. She is co-author of Women Architects in Australia, 1900-1950 (RAIA, 2001) and Architecture and the Modern Hospital: Nosokomeion to Hygeia (Routledge, 2019) and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Session details

Day 1

9.00–9.15am

Introduction, welcome, acknowledgment of country:

Professor Julie Willis

Day 2

9–9.45am

Careers research

What does the research tell us about the shape and structures of careers in architecture and the built environment professions? Valerie Francis and Gill Matthewson discuss their findings, in a session chaired by Julie Willis.

Day 2

2–3.40pm

Challenging the Canon – Rewriting history

How and why do we recover the histories of women’s active participation in shaping the built environment? How does such knowledge reshape our understanding of the past and the present? What are the barriers, assumptions and disciplinary norms challenged by rewriting built environment histories? Jude Barber, Sarah Rafson, Madhavi Desai and Karen Burns discuss recent projects in a panel discussion chaired by Julie Willis.

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