VENTUROUS: Design Practice Research Futures in Architecture & Urban Design, brings together the projects and design explorations of 23 innovative Australian and international architects and designers, who are alumni of the RMIT School of Architecture and Urban Design’s pioneering design-practice research PhD program.
Unlike a traditional PhD, the RMIT design-practice program is conducted through design practice. PhD candidates are practitioners from a range of career stages, many of whom have already developed a substantial and ideas-rich body of work, while others develop projects during the PhD process.
The exhibition is curated by Professor Vivian Mitsogianni, Dr Leanne Zilka and Sophie Sung who are architects and practitioner academics, and is presented through video format as mini documentaries displayed on screens hung from a field-like structure dispersed through the gallery.
The work of exhibiting practitioners contributes to the understanding of design process as well as to pressing contemporary topics, including design for regenerative and sustainable futures, designing with Country and First Nations empowerment in the built environment, housing affordability, inclusive public spaces and the use of advanced and emerging technologies, including the ethical use of Generative AI in design.
VENTUROUS showcases work from national and internationally renowned practitioners, including Dr Gilles Retsin (AUAR), Professor Carey Lyon (Lyons), Dr Deborah Saunt (DSDHA), Dr Michael Lavery (m3architecture), Professor Eva Prats (Flores & Prats), Dr Michael Banney (m3architecture), Professor Anthony Hōete (Ngārchitecture), Dr Matias del Campo (SPAN), Dr Sandra Manninger (SPAN), Natalie Alima (BioLab Studio), Professor Roland Snooks (RMIT Architecture | Tectonic Formation Lab) and Dr Gwyllim Jahn (Fologram & RMIT Architecture).
VENTUROUS is presented by the RMIT School of Architecture and Urban Design and the College of Design and Social Context.
The exhibition is free to attend and is running until 19 September 2026 at the RMIT Design Hub Gallery. For more information, visit the event website.
Quotes attributable to Professor Vivian Mitsogianni, Dean, RMIT School of Architecture & Urban Design:
"For almost four decades, the RMIT School of Architecture & Urban Design has been an innovator in design practice research methods.
"Our aim for the exhibition is to make visible how design practice research operates, particularly in developing new ideas and design processes for the design of our buildings, spaces, and cities.
"We wanted to capture this moment in time and look forward to the future of our disciplines, while having a conversation about the various forms and contexts of applied research in our programs."
Quotes attributable to Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation:
“RMIT is described as a University of Technology, Design and Enterprise, and this is what the VENTUROUS exhibition showcases - the interface between technology, design and enterprise.
“It is exciting to see the calibre of work our PhD alumni have produced from their practice-based research at RMIT. At RMIT we are focused on partnering to deliver impact beyond the academic community."
Quotes attributable to Lyons Co-founder, exhibiting practitioner, and RMIT PhD alumnus, Professor Carey Lyon, RMIT School of Architecture & Urban Design:
"Engaging in RMIT's PhD program is an important opportunity for practitioners to not just undertake research about architecture, but research through architecture.
“The design research showcased in this exhibition is only a small part of a much larger body of work that adds up to an extraordinary, and unprecedented, body of knowledge about architecture and architectural culture in our city."
***
General media enquiries: RMIT External Affairs and Media, 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au
