Fleur Watson

Lab visit Earlier this week, my RMIT and PRS EU colleague Paul Minifie and I were invited to tour the IAAC Valldaura Labs with Vicente Guallart, the co-Founder Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). Valldaura Labs is a post graduate programme where students live, cook, eat, make, design, test and experiment together culminating in the collective act of designing, making and building a full scale structure. Once a private villa surrounded by vineyards, the spaces are now a working laboratory for the students and are surrounded by forests, a former brickworks and a monastery - its only 20 minutes from the middle of Barcelona.

Surfacing to share some images after a stimulating April edition of RMIT Practice Research Symposium in Barcelona. As Chair of the Europe PRS, it’s rewarding to curate the programme, work closely with incredible candidates and also to contribute to ‘work in progress’ and ‘milestone’ panel presentations across the weekend. This year - both April and November editions of RMIT University’s PRS Europe Symposium (PRS) form part of the public programme for UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture festival taking place in Barcelona through to December 2026 under UIA theme of “Becoming: Architectures for a planet in transition.”  Images here from April: PhD examination, Francesca Vanelli Governance: Commoning Systemic Flood Adaption Keynote Lecture, Gilles Retsin Architecture at scale: Aesthetics, Practice and Production. Panel discussion moderated by Roland Snooks with Alisa Andrasek and Sille Pihlak Studio Visit: Curators of the World Capital of Architecture Program ‘In Studio’ event hosted at Bajet Giramé in Poblenou – the studio and home of architects Maria Giramé + Pau Bajet - who spoke about the Capital of Architecture Congress programme. The full curatorial team comprises Giramé and Bajet with Mariona Benedito, Tomeu Ramis, Pau Sarquella and Carmen Torres. Last images: candidate workshop, one of the Weekend ‘Work in Progress’ Panels (Candidate: Gonzalo Herrero Delicado. Supervisors: Alisa Andrasek, Fleur Watson) and Sant Jordi day public celebrations in Barcelona. @rmitprs @rmiteurope

Ending the year with some images of the recent RMIT Practice Research Symposium (Europe) in Barcelona – my second edition as PRS EU Chair. Rewarding to have three candidates complete their PhD examinations –warm congratulations to Olga Subirós, Nathalie Weadick and Gaultier Roussilhe! We also introduced a new PRS event series titled ’In Studio’ - sincere thanks to Flores Prats and External Reference for hosting us in their extraordinary spaces. Images here, as follows: - PhD Examination, Olga Subirós: ‘Displaying Emergency: A Situated Curatorial/Spatial Architecture, Supervisors: @suzie_attiwill @bradhaylock , Fleur Watson - PhD Examination, Nathalie Weadick: ‘The Quiet Art of Tactical Curating: A Framework for Cultural Momentum in Architecture’, Supervisors: @jan.van.schaik , Fleur Watson, Colm Moore, Laurence Lord - PhD Examination, Gaultier Roussilhe: Lost in the Clouds – Looking for sustainability in digitalisation policies. Supervisors: James Auger, Liam Fennessy - Keynote panel discussion with Aric Chen, Marina Otera Verzier, Sam Spurr, Brian Dixon and Javier Arpa Fernandez, moderated by Sarah Teasley - In-studio programme: The Crisis of Emergence - Reinventing Algorithmic Experimentation, convened by Roland Snooks and hosted by External Reference - ‘In-studio’ programme: Observation & Drawing, Flores Prats - Work in progress and milestone presentations, Here: Mireia Luzárraga presenting CoC milestone. - With @osubiros post-examination - View from Flores Prats studio Recordings of the examinations and key events available online soon via the RMIT PRS portal.

A few (belated) images with my students this semester - so proud of their insightful work and their rigorous engagement with this design studio under the collective theme of ‘Curating the City’. This semester, we worked closely with RMIT industry partner, @nmf_au (Naomi Milgrom Foundation) to respond to the embedded memories and histories (seen and unseen)of the former Richmond Power Station. Through the lens of adaptive re-use principles, light footprint exhibition making strategies and research, the students responded with their design for a public interior supported by a curated cultural program with a focus on recognition of pre-histories and enhanced access and inclusion. My warm thank you to Elaine Chia, Felix Davis and David Gianotten for their time and support for the studio. #curatingthecity #publicinterior #rmitinteriordesign

On Friday night at the 2025 Victorian Architecture Awards, I was honoured to receive the Bates Smart State Award for Architecture in the Media for the publication ‘March Studio: Making Architecture, Material & Process’. Thank you to March Studio for their deep commitment to making this book, Stuart Geddes for his beautiful book design, Paulina de Laveaux @paulinadel at Thames & Hudson and to the leadership at RMIT’s School of Architecture & Urban Design for their steadfast support for this series. Thank you to the Jury: Daniel Kumnick, Jury Chair, RAIA, Bates Smart, @batessmart Rachel Hurst, LFRAIA, Rachel Hurst Studio, Toby Reed, RAIA, Nervegna Reed Architecture @nervegna_reed_architecture Below is the Jury Citation @architecture_vic This third addition to the excellent EDITIONS: Australian Architecture Monographs series is the result of an ongoing partnership between RMIT and publisher Thames & Hudson in recognising the work of influential design practices at strategic points in their careers. Fleur Watson successfully weaves together March Studio’s eclectic output, ranging from retail, interior and product design to architecture, within a framework of making as prototyping in a refreshing pushback against blandness and design as a second- or third-hand process. At the core of the book is a long-form essay punctuated by short project descriptions and conversations with March Studio that offer personal insight into the evolution of the practice. The author’s skill and commitment to the monograph as an enduring medium for the sharing of architectural ideas is commendable and this book is an accomplished affirmation of its relevance in an increasingly digital world. Visually rich and a joy to hold, Making Architecture: Material and Process has also benefitted from a clear synergy between the author and the work of distinguished book designer, Stuart Geddes. The result is a book that is at once highly polished and experimental, embodying the ethos of making as craft in bringing to light an intriguing and relevant body of work to a broader audience. @march_studio @thamesandhudsonau @rmitarchitecture @interiordesign.rmit @bookshop_by_uro @stuartgeddes

Realtime: The Imperial Architecture of Now is a two-channel interactive video installation. Running live in the gallery as a web-based application, the work reconstructs key episodes and techniques in the imperial history of realtime computation. Technique 1: Realtime Route This technique performs a live traceroute from a Mac Mini mounted in the gallery ceiling to pm.gov.au, the official website of the Prime Minister of Australia. As the traceroute runs, data packets move hop by hop through routers, backbone networks, and security filters. Each hop is enriched with WHOIS records, organizational ownership, ASN registration, and IP geolocation data, revealing the institutional and geopolitical actors shaping global digital infrastructure. The final hop returns an IP geolocated to Rehovot, Israel, based on WHOIS and IP metadata. While latency suggests a closer physical server, this discrepancy points to the ways routing protocols, security layers, and corporate intermediaries obscure the true paths of state network traffic. Echoing the logic of colonial telegraphy, Realtime Route reveals how modern digital communication relies on physical and bureaucratic systems designed to manage speed, access, and authority. — Realtime: The Imperial Architecture of Now Farzin Lotfi-Jam Two-channel interactive video installation, web-based application, five cameras, one server, custom software, realtime simulation and 3D visualization. 35 minutes, continuous loop, with sound. Research and 3D Modeling Assistants: Jun Hu, Evan Harris Levy, Shujie Young Lui, Anh Shavindya Seneviratne Do, Keygan Sinclair, Yi Xu With thanks to Simon Maisch Shown as part of Deep Time Real Time, RMIT Design Hub Gallery, Carlton. Creative direction by Fleur Watson. Co-curated by André Bonnice, Anna Jankovic, and Fleur Watson. Exhibition design by Simulaa. Graphic design by Stuart Geddes and Žiga Testen. Access consultancy by Access Lab & Library (ALL). Produced by RMIT Culture in partnership with the RMIT School of Architecture & Urban Design and with the assistance of The Swayn Gallery of Australian Design.

A few images of the RMIT Practice Research Symposium Europe (Barcelona) from 15-18 May - my first as PRS EU Chair. 1/. PRS community gathering on the terrace at hosted at Colegio de Arquitectos de Cataluña. 2/. Panel discussion: ‘Untangling Regenerative Fashion Through Creative Practice Research’ with warm thanks to Professor Tim Marshall, A/Prof Ricarda Bigolin @ricardabg and panellists Hanka van der Voet, Eleanora De Chiara, Femke de Vries and Professor Naomi Stead @naomistead 3/. Examination: Matthew Ashton, School of Architecture and Urban Design – GROUND BREAKING: Fieldnotes from Forty Walks Across Stockholm’s Landscapes of Extraction. Supervisors: A/Prof Charles Anderson, Prof Nicholas Boyarsky 4/. Examination: Shin Egashira, School of Architecture and Urban Design – Six Tales of Animals and Five Related Essays and Projects - Piecing Cities Together by Taking their Objects Apart. Supervisors: Prof Martyn Hook, Prof Nicholas Boyarsky 5-7/. Exhibition tour and panel discussion, Matter Matters – Designing with the World at DHub: Disseny Hub Barcelona. Sincere thanks to curator and PhD candidate Olga Subirós @osubiros with panellists Eva Franch Gilabert @eva_franch , A/Prof Brad Haylock @bradhaylock , Blanca Pujals, Rosa Rogina 8-9/. Lecture by Harriet Harriss @harriet_e_harriss , Professor at Pratt Institute, NYC and a Public Director of the AIANY, hosted at COAC Colegio de Arquitectos de Cataluña. The keynote was titled ‘Architectures of Solastalgia: Climate Grief, Indigenous Epistemologies, and Posthuman Futures’.  10/. PRS ‘work in progress’ session by Femke de Vries @femkedvrs Thank you to all who joined us and looking forward to our next PRS Europe @rmitprs in November 2025. #rmitprs #prseurope #rmit #creativepractice #practiceresearch #creativepracticeresearch #practiceresearchsymposium #architectureurbandesign #design #fashionandtextiles

The final day to experience Deep Time Real Time: The 2025 Alastair Swayn Legacy Exhibition is tomorrow, Saturday 17 May, at the Design Hub Gallery, coinciding with the opening weekend of Melbourne Design Week @ngvmelbourne Please join us for celebratory closing events: 12:15 – 1:00PM Guided exhibition tour with Simulaa. @simulaa_ 1:00 – 2:00PM Workshop with Access Lab & Library (ALL) exploring image description as a practice of quiet noticing, and an antidote to restlessness. @accesslabandlibrary 2:00 – 3:00PM ‘Orders of Magnitude’ talk with Stuart Geddes and Žiga Testen, and moderated by us, discussing some of the ideas that underpinned the design of the show. @stuartgeddes @testen.studio 3:00 – 5:00PM Informal closing celebration with drinks Click the link in our profile for more information. All welcome! #DeepTimeRealTime #2025AlastairSwaynLegacyExhibition #swayngalleryofaustraliandesign @somethingtogether @rmitgalleries Image credit: Keelan O’Hehir @keelanohehir

It’s the final week to see Deep Time Real Time! As part of Melbourne Design Week, we invite you to join the curators, artists and designers for a finissage program at Design Hub Gallery, Saturday 17 May. ⁠ ⁠ This afternoon of programming explores ‘time literate’ design practice alongside shared, access-led experiences. ⁠ ⁠ 12:15 – 1PM ⁠ Curatorial tour ⁠ 1 – 2PM ⁠ Access Lab & Library (ALL) image description workshop ⁠ ⁠ 2 – 3PM ⁠ ‘Orders of Magnitude’: Architects Simulaa in conversation with designers Stuart Geddes and Žiga Testen about ‘time literate’ design practice ⁠ ⁠ 3 – 5PM ⁠ Closing celebration ⁠ This is a FREE program of events, register via DHG website. Creative direction by Fleur Watson. Co-curated by André Bonnice, Anna Jankovic and Fleur Watson. Exhibition design by Simulaa. Graphic design by Stuart Geddes and Žiga Testen. Access consultancy by Access Lab and Library (ALL). ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Creative practices: Fayen d’Evie, Stuart Geddes and Žiga Testen with Will Neill, Alicia Frankovich, Emma Jackson, Farzin Lotfi-Jam, Nicholas Mangan and Cameron Allan McKean, Joel Sherwood Spring, and Simulaa.  Research contributions:  Algal Processing Group, Clean Air Task Force, Julien Comer-Kleine, Copernicus Sentinel-2, C-SPAN, iNaturalist, Palynology, HyperSens Laboratory, Palaeoecology and Biogeography Research Lab, Resources Victoria (Geological Survey of Victoria division, Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), uRADMonitor. ⁠ ⁠ #DeepTimeRealTime #2025AlastairSwaynLegacyExhibition ⁠ ⁠ @alastairswaynfoundation @somethingtogether @simulaa_ @rmitarchitecture @interiordesign.rmit @rmituniversity @rmitgalleries   Image 1: Simulaa, ‘Strata Signals’, 2025, in ‘Deep Time Real Time’, RMIT Design Hub Gallery, Carlton, 2025. Photo by Tom Ross. Image 2 &3: Simulaa, ‘Strata Signals’, 2025 (detail), in ‘Deep Time Real Time’, RMIT Design Hub Gallery, Carlton, 2025. Photo by Tom Ross. Image 4: Nicholas Mangan and Cameron Allan McKean, ‘Death Assemblage (The blade that makes coral time is shaped like a mushroom cloud)’, 2024 (installation view), in ‘Deep Time Real Time’, RMIT Design Hub Gallery, Carlton, 2025. Photo by Tom Ross.

Some highlights from Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: The Holy See Pavilion Sublime - a durational project for repair interventions to a deconsecrated church. Beautiful and considered. Congratulations on Biennale ‘Special Mention’ to Marina Otera Verzier @maioarchitects @annapuigjaner @tabilbaoestudio and team Synthesising Complexity for Regenerative Futures, Alisa Andrašek Panel discussion at Arsenale’s Speakers Corner with Claudia Pasquero, Winy Maas, Albert-László Barabási, moderated by Emmanouil Zaroukas, co-curated by myself with Alisa Andrašek. Thanks to all. Home, Australian Pavilion Warm congratulations to all of the @home_as_country team! Water Parliaments, Catalan Pavilion Pleased to contribute to the exhibition’s publication with a short text - thanks to @eva_franch @we_are_takk and team for the invitation Others in no particular order: - Canal Cafe armature Diller Scofidio + Renfro - Spanish Pavilion - Danish Pavilion - Lebanese Pavilion - Estonian Pavilion - Serbian Pavilion - Diagrams by OMA/AMO - Venice views- always ‘best in show’

Tomorrow in Venice! Panel discussion: Synthesising Complexity for Regenerative Futures Thurs 8 May, 1.30pm–2.30pm Speakers Corner Corderie dell’Arsenale If you are travelling to the Venice Architecture Biennale please come along for this panel discussion co-curated by myself and Alisa Andrašek titled ‘Synthesising Complexity for Regenerative Futures’ with esteemed international panellists Claudia Pasquero, Winy Maas, Albert-László Barabási and moderated by Emmanouil Zaroukas. If you are not able to join us then we will be recording this discussion for sharing more widely at a later date. #BiennaleArchitettura2025 #IntelliGens #GENS #GENSSpeakersCorner #RMITUniversity #rmitarchitecture @labiennale @alisa_andrasek @crassociati @rmitarchitecture

After you've completed your civic duty tomorrow come to the Design Hub Gallery for a special sensory tour with artist Fayen d'Evie. Holding (2024) is an access-led performance tour in response to our work Strata Signals. The tour implicates audiences through the purposeful handling of geological samples and human-fabricated material, raising questions about who and what is holding Earth through epochal change. Link in the bio. Detail photo of Strata Signals by Annika Kafcaloudis