Common Ground x International Women's Day 2025
The Australian Institute of Architects presents: Common Ground x International Women’s Day 2025 a cross-disciplinary event hosted by EmAGN VIC and AILA Fresh. Under the banner of UN Women’s global campaign, MARCH FORWARD: For ALL Women and Girls, this year’s discussion will explore how we can take action to affirm equal rights, power, and opportunities for all.
Join us for an engaging panel featuring speakers across Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Planning, including two from Monash Art, Design and Architecture. The event is followed by informal mentoring sessions with experienced practitioners. This is an opportunity for students, graduates, and emerging professionals to share stories, gain insights, and seek advice.
EmAGN Vic and AILA Fresh Vic are excited to come together for IWD 2025, driving change and empowering the next generation.
Panellists:
Tonya Hinde (Moderator)
Director & Interior Designer, Hinde Studio
Tonya is an acclaimed interior designer who has worked on a wide range of projects throughout the course of her 30-year career. As a collaborative leader in the Australian architectural industry, she is renowned for working with multiple stakeholders and high-level technical requirements, demonstrating spatial design as a key contributor to our recovery and ongoing health. In her own practice and recently as a Principal and Executive Design Lead at BLP, Tonya has been a significant contributor to internationally groundbreaking healthcare design work, from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, the Hong Kong Centre of Excellence in Paediatrics, the New Footscray Hospital and to the Orygen Development for Youth Mental Health. The powerful combination of expanded research in universal wellbeing, along with inspired design outcomes, has become Tonya’s signature.
Nikhila Madabhushi
Director & Architect at Equity Office
Nikhila is an architect, researcher and educator. Her research-based practice, Equity Office, foregrounds decolonising and participatory design methods for built and spatial environments. Her work has received various awards and recognitions, enabling her to gain diverse knowledge(s) on the confluence of Country, disasters and place. She publishes, speaks and exhibits regularly on these themes, with her work aiming to build bridges between academic, disciplinary and public discourse. She is currently a Research Fellow at Monash Art Design and Architecture where she continues co-creating applied research with diverse communities across Australia, concurrent to practice.
Ana Calic McLean
Director & Interior Designer at In Addition Studio
With 15 years of experience in design, Ana Calic McLean, Director at In Addition, finds her inspiration in the unexpected, valuing life’s smallest moments of wonder. These experiences have become a guiding force in her creative process, always steering her toward innovative and meaningful design solutions. Ana believes that curiosity is the spark that drives creativity, and this mindset ensures that each project is a blend of inventive concepts, thoughtful exploration, and deep consideration. Throughout her career, Ana has had the privilege of collaborating with a diverse range of clients, creating spaces and experiences that are not only compelling but also deeply resonant with those who encounter them.
Isabella Webb (AILA Fresh) Spatial Designer and PhD Candidate at Monash Uni / XYX Lab
Isabella Webb is a Spatial Designer and PhD Candidate within the Monash University XYX Lab. Her research explores current approaches to women's safety and inclusion across transport, sociology, feminist, and design research—utilising innovative methods and framing these through intersectionality to recognise diverse identities and social positions. Her current case study, based in an Australian growth area, examines how participatory methods and design interventions can enhance safety, inclusion, and accessibility for women, fostering more sustainable urban development. Isabella has contributed to research projects, exhibitions, and workshops, including the Western Australian HyperSext City Exhibition and lead author of the recently published chapter Developing Advocacy: Insights from Gender-sensitive Placemaking Training in the Public Sector.
Event Details
- Date:
- 6 March 2025 at 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
- Venue:
- Brickworks
- Cost:
- Registration required through an AIA membership
- Website:
- https://members.architecture.com.au/
- Categories:
- Design; Architecture; Industry / Alumni
Description
The Australian Institute of Architects presents: Common Ground x International Women’s Day 2025 a cross-disciplinary event hosted by EmAGN VIC and AILA Fresh. Under the banner of UN Women’s global campaign, MARCH FORWARD: For ALL Women and Girls, this year’s discussion will explore how we can take action to affirm equal rights, power, and opportunities for all.
Join us for an engaging panel featuring speakers across Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Planning, including two from Monash Art, Design and Architecture. The event is followed by informal mentoring sessions with experienced practitioners. This is an opportunity for students, graduates, and emerging professionals to share stories, gain insights, and seek advice.
EmAGN Vic and AILA Fresh Vic are excited to come together for IWD 2025, driving change and empowering the next generation.
Panellists:
Tonya Hinde (Moderator)
Director & Interior Designer, Hinde Studio
Tonya is an acclaimed interior designer who has worked on a wide range of projects throughout the course of her 30-year career. As a collaborative leader in the Australian architectural industry, she is renowned for working with multiple stakeholders and high-level technical requirements, demonstrating spatial design as a key contributor to our recovery and ongoing health. In her own practice and recently as a Principal and Executive Design Lead at BLP, Tonya has been a significant contributor to internationally groundbreaking healthcare design work, from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, the Hong Kong Centre of Excellence in Paediatrics, the New Footscray Hospital and to the Orygen Development for Youth Mental Health. The powerful combination of expanded research in universal wellbeing, along with inspired design outcomes, has become Tonya’s signature.
Nikhila Madabhushi
Director & Architect at Equity Office
Nikhila is an architect, researcher and educator. Her research-based practice, Equity Office, foregrounds decolonising and participatory design methods for built and spatial environments. Her work has received various awards and recognitions, enabling her to gain diverse knowledge(s) on the confluence of Country, disasters and place. She publishes, speaks and exhibits regularly on these themes, with her work aiming to build bridges between academic, disciplinary and public discourse. She is currently a Research Fellow at Monash Art Design and Architecture where she continues co-creating applied research with diverse communities across Australia, concurrent to practice.
Ana Calic McLean
Director & Interior Designer at In Addition Studio
With 15 years of experience in design, Ana Calic McLean, Director at In Addition, finds her inspiration in the unexpected, valuing life’s smallest moments of wonder. These experiences have become a guiding force in her creative process, always steering her toward innovative and meaningful design solutions. Ana believes that curiosity is the spark that drives creativity, and this mindset ensures that each project is a blend of inventive concepts, thoughtful exploration, and deep consideration. Throughout her career, Ana has had the privilege of collaborating with a diverse range of clients, creating spaces and experiences that are not only compelling but also deeply resonant with those who encounter them.
Isabella Webb (AILA Fresh) Spatial Designer and PhD Candidate at Monash Uni / XYX Lab
Isabella Webb is a Spatial Designer and PhD Candidate within the Monash University XYX Lab. Her research explores current approaches to women's safety and inclusion across transport, sociology, feminist, and design research—utilising innovative methods and framing these through intersectionality to recognise diverse identities and social positions. Her current case study, based in an Australian growth area, examines how participatory methods and design interventions can enhance safety, inclusion, and accessibility for women, fostering more sustainable urban development. Isabella has contributed to research projects, exhibitions, and workshops, including the Western Australian HyperSext City Exhibition and lead author of the recently published chapter Developing Advocacy: Insights from Gender-sensitive Placemaking Training in the Public Sector.