Monash Art, Design and Architecture

13/10/2026

We’re delighted to welcome Reinier de Graaf to Melbourne, a rare opportunity to hear one of architecture’s sharpest critical voices in person.

Join us for this Guest Lecture on 4 November.

A partner at OMA and co-founder of its think-tank AMO, Reinier is the author of Four Walls and a Roof, architect, verb. and, most recently, the manifesto Architecture Against Architecture. In it, he argues that the authority of architects is crumbling and asks what comes next, from collective ownership and unionisation to copyright, ethics and the role of AI.

Whether you’re a practitioner, researcher, student or alum, this is a rare chance to hear one of the profession’s sharpest critical voices in conversation with the local community.

4 November 2026, 6:00-7:30 pm
AIA Victorian Chapter, 41X Boardroom, Level 2, 41 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Free entry

Copies of the book will be available for purchase after the talk, courtesy of URO Bookshop.

Register now
https://www.monash.edu/mada/events/2026/Architecture-Against-Architecture-Reinier-de-Graaf-DOA-Guest-Lecture

Presented as part of the Department of Architecture Guest Lecture Series.

09/10/2026

Congratulations to five Monash Design teams and our alumni on outstanding wins at this year's Good Design Awards.

Best in Class, Next Gen: Bachelor of Industrial Design graduate Xavier Earls for Bush Cradle, a modular wildlife habitat system made with hempcrete that addresses Australian wildlife habitat loss.

Gold, Next Gen: Bachelor of Communication Design graduate Lucy Corcoran for FLOJO, a board game promoting inclusive and fun menstruation education.

Gold, Research: Design Health Collab, led by Prof Daphne Flynn with Micro-X, for a passenger self-screening concept that eases airport congestion. Developed in partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Built Environment | Installation: Q***r Stories, XYX Lab, led by Prof Gene Bawden and A/Prof Jess Berry with Prof Nick McGuigan and Prof Nicole Kalms, commemorating LGBTIQA+ lived experiences through public exhibition.

Built Environment | Installation: Quiet Studio, Studiobird, led by A/Prof Matthew Bird with Autex Acoustics and Universal Practice, a sensory retreat exploring quiet as civic infrastructure.

Built Environment | Interior Design: Ngamai Wilam, A/Prof Leah Heiss and Dr Troy McGee, Victoria's first publicly funded residential eating disorder treatment centre, created with Alfred Health, NTC Architects and BG Architecture.

Concept Design: Master of Design graduate Chenxi Mao for MONA, an AI and AR campus navigation concept that makes unfamiliar spaces calm and accessible.

Concept Design: Master of Design team Chenxi Mao, Tianshu Yuan and Yueru Liu for NOMI, an XR collaborative learning system.

Policy Design: CAMP (Creative Anticipatory Methods for Policymaking), Dr Isabella Brandalise with Prof Lisa Grocott and Prof Shanti Sumartojo, building anticipatory capabilities for policymakers.

Read more about our staff winners: https://www.monash.edu/mada/news/2026/monash-designers-win-five-good-design-awards

Read more about our alumni winners: https://www.monash.edu/mada/news/2026/monash-next-gen-designers-win-four-good-design-awards

05/10/2026

Thinking about a future in design, architecture or urban planning and design? Join us for our Ask our Monash Academic webinar series and discover where postgraduate study at Monash can take you.

12 October | 7.00–7.45pm | Master of Design
Explore our Master of Design and learn about specialisations in Interaction Design, Multimedia Design and Design Research, with hands-on projects and cross-disciplinary learning.

13 October | 6.30–7.15pm | Master of Architecture
Find out how the Master of Architecture can help you become a registered architect, whether you're coming from an architecture background or another discipline.

13 October | 7.30–8.15pm | Master of Urban Planning and Design
Discover how you'll develop the skills to create more sustainable, liveable cities through studio-based learning and industry-led projects.

Join us online to meet our academics, ask questions and learn more about your postgraduate study options.

Register now
https://www.monash.edu/graduate-study/events?study-areas-filter=art-design-and-architecture&sort=date-asc

28/09/2026

Panel discussion: ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj | reawakening deep water knowledge.

This panel brings together Indigenous and non‑Indigenous academics behind the new exhibition ngiyama mirrim baany yulendj at the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Melbourne Museum.

Featuring Monash practitioners and artists, including Professor Brian Martin, among other Monash and urban experts, panelists will discuss water as a living presence carrying memory, story and responsibility – connecting past and present relationships across Country and over time.

Register to join the free discussion on 8 October at the Melbourne Museum Theatre: https://ow.ly/q6tf50ZQQs8

23/09/2026

Drawing New Lines: reshaping regional-metro relationships through infrastructure

Transport corridors dictate how communities evolve, density shifts and regional identities transform.

As major infrastructure investments like the Suburban Rail Loop and East Coast High Speed Rail take shape, the boundary between metropolitan and regional Victoria is shifting. A joint initiative by the Monash Association of Planning Students (MAPS) and Transport Engineers at Monash (TEM) brings together transport engineers and urban planners to examine how we build critical connections without flattening local character.

Register to join the conversation on 7 October at Caulfield campus: https://ow.ly/awSE50ZQpCr

22/09/2026

Professor Nicole Kalms, Director of XYX Lab - Monash University, spoke to The Age about co-founding the YourWalk project.

YourWalk extends XYX Lab and CrowdLab's previous collaborations with City of Casey, with the aim of improving pedestrian environments through better information about lighting and night-time visibility, footpath and crossing accessibility, and urban heat and shade.

Read the full article via The Age.

Some European cities have made a major shift to work and recreation hours – but a 24-hour economy comes with an unintended cost.

21/09/2026

How an Art History and Curating student helped shape MUMA’s 50-year archive

Publishing an institutional index demands precision, deep archival research and active collaboration across disciplines. With the release of 50 Years/50 Works: A MUMA Collection Index, Monash University Museum Of Art marks a significant milestone in contemporary Australian art history.

Monash University Bachelor of Art History and Curating (BAHC) student Ella Peck worked directly alongside Stephanie Berlangieri, Curator – Research, to bring this major text to print while completing her studies. Emerging from the coveted MUMA–MADA (Monash Art, Design and Architecture) Curating Internship, Ella helped manage contributor networks, collection databases and production logistics across 50 commissioned texts.

This paid graduate pathway embeds students directly into real-world museum operations. By learning directly from leading researchers and curators, our graduates enter the cultural sector with proven industry experience before they graduate.

Read the full story about Ella’s curatorial journey: https://ow.ly/Kx4U50ZO7Vq

Thanks to Stephanie Berlangieri and the team at MUMA for their ongoing partnership and mentorship of our BAHC students.

16/09/2026

Congratulations to Associate Professor Nicholas Mangan (Monash Fine Art) on his selection for the 18th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, one of the most influential recurring exhibitions on the global contemporary art calendar.

This year's Biennale theme is: 'To pass from one dream to another', and Mangan will present 'The Current', a new film inspired by a Tevau — a coiled feather currency from the Solomon Islands. His work explores value, extinction and exchange through the story of a single taxidermied honeyeater.

Mangan was invited by curator Catherine Nichols after she discovered the Tevau image on his studio wall during a visit to Australia in search of artists engaged with the Asia-Pacific region.

Read more about Nicholas's work and journey to Lyon: [link]

📍 18th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, 19 September – 13 December 2026

14/09/2026

Congratulations to Professor Brian Martin, awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (round 1), one of the nation's top honours for outstanding researchers.

His project, 'Connecting with Country: Indigenous Creative Practice Research', aims to build Indigenous pathways in the cultural sector through a Connecting with Country framework. Investigating the intersections between practice-led research and Indigenous ways of knowing, generating new knowledge about that agency of Indigenous mark making and how the cultural sector can build ethical relationships with Indigenous knowledges, cultures and creative practice.

Reflecting on this recognition, Professor Martin shared:

"This Fellowship provides the opportunity to build real pathways for Indigenous knowledge holders and practitioners within the cultural sector, not just make space for us within it. Connecting with Country is not a framework we apply from the outside; it is about learning to be in reciprocal relationships with Country, and this reconfigures how museums and galleries do their work. I am looking forward to seeing where this takes us, and what opportunities emerge."

Expected outcomes include new models for exhibition development and Indigenous engagement in museums and galleries. This will provide significant benefits including advancing the agency of Indigenous practitioners, communities and knowledge holders within the cultural sector and improved training for Indigenous researchers.

Join us in congratulating Professor Martin on this outstanding achievement.



Image credits:
1: Brian Martin - Methexical Countryscape Kamilaroi #12
2: Brian Martin
3. Brian Martin - Baw-li tharra burrlin - Methexical Countryscape Lanjia Saura #2

08/09/2026

What do Design students and Pharmaceutical Science students have in common?

A collaborative, industry-focused cosmetics studio, and it’s a first for Monash University.

Over 10 weeks, 230 students from Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) and the Monash Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences teamed up in Beyond Skin Deep, pairing Bachelor of Design students with Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science students to build sustainable skincare brands from formulation through to packaging. They translated clinical briefs into brands people could actually use, and defended those decisions to their pharmacy "clients."

The final projects and prototypes were presented at a cosmetics expo to representatives from the cosmetics industry. Three projects stood out: Lumé Petrae and Imbu.

"This studio pushed our students to translate complex parameters into real-world solutions," says studio lead Melinda Coombes. "When you bring design and science into the same room early on, you prepare students to navigate industry constraints, back their decisions with evidence, and build products that genuinely work for people."

This is what co-design looks like at MADA. Students learning to work the way they will in industry, with real stakeholders, real constraints, and real feedback.

Read the full story: https://ow.ly/Ziqg50ZKjXO

With thanks to Pharmaceutical Science Unit Coordinator Dr Laurence Orlando, MADA Associate Dean of Education, Professor Ari Seligmann; Design studio leaders Melinda Coombes and Dr David Trickey and students Isabella De Leon, Ruby Guttman, Eric Lee and Alice Zhang.

Image Credits:

Image 1: Zixing Mun - Cosmetic expo
Image 2: Imbu team
Image 3 and 4: Ruby Guttmann
Image 5: Zixing Mun - Lumé Petrae team
Image 6 and 7: Isabella De Leon