Dr Rachel Hurst

Research focus

Highlights

Dr Hurst has a distinctive and diverse research record developed over 20 years that exemplifies the creative and changing nature of research in the architectural discipline. Its unifying thread is an interest in how complex and profound spatial patterns of everyday life might productively bridge the divide between theory and practice, the academy and the profession. She has a prolific publication and exhibition background, including nearly 100 text works and curating and exhibiting locally and internationally in over 20 shows. Major themes include theories of the everyday, analogue practices, architectural curation, design pedagogy, and Australian modernism. An overview of her research can be seen at https://aad.unisa.edu.au/rachel-hurst/

Highlights

Dr Hurst maintains a long and active liaison role between the academy and the architectural profession. A member of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) since 1986, she was elevated to Fellowship status in 2019 (normally conferred only on registered practitioners). A frequent juror in the AIA Awards, and member of the National Awards Jury in 2009, Rachel is a member of the SA Chapter Education Committee, and member in the National Visiting Panel accreditation processes, contributing to 8 accreditations. Invited twice to review the Venice Architecture Biennale, she was in a team shortlisted for the AIA Australian Pavilion Creative Direction 2011.

In addition she has a continuing consultancy with Renewal SA since 2012, as a member of the Bowden Design Review Panel.

Rachel has been a guest critic and examiner at the universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Newcastle Queensland, Tasmania and RMIT, guest juror for the Droga Consultancy, and NSW AIA Student Awards. She is active in extra-curricular design culture, curating the inaugural Adelaide Festival of Arts Architecture Symposium, and the Frascari Symposium on the Drawing, and been guest speaker at Melbourne’s M_Pavilion, Architecture Week, and equity in architecture organization, Parlour, as well as broadcast on Radio National, Melbourne radio 3RRR and Radio Adelaide.

Teaching strengths

• Contemporary and cross-disciplinary design studio
• Practice- based design research
• Real world engagement
• Inclusivity
• Analogue architectural skills

Highlights

Rachel teaches across both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of the Architecture Program and her teaching has received awards at School, Division, University and National levels. She was a recipient of the AIA Neville Quarry Architectural Education Prize (commendation 2008).

She has taught in design studio, research, communication and history-theory streams, and over three decades of teaching, received 10 awards and grants, run 16 extracurricular teaching projects and coordinated nearly 30 educational development activities.

Research-based design and inventive pedagogies are at the core of her teaching portfolio, and produced teaching methodologies for beginning design students, Masters of Architecture research practices and reality-based studios at all levels of the Architecture Program. A particular facet of her teaching is student engagement, either through real projects in accessible locations, contributions from significant practitioners, hands-on making, inventive metaphorical alliances or encouraging individual theoretical positions.

Her teaching approaches and achievements have been disseminated though over 25 publications and conference presentations, regular annual exhibitions at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and in 2018 a film summarizing a year-long final year design studio of 90 students she coordinated.