PhD Exhibition and Examination: Mark Romei and Andrew Copolov
Join us for an exhibition by PhD candidates Mark Romei and Andrew Copolov at the MADA Gallery.
Mark Romei
Architectural Witnessing: Revealing the Spatial Redaction of Australia’s Grey Network of Hotel Detention
Through investigating Australia’s hotel detention network, with a particular focus on the Park Hotel, this research explores how architectural representation can act as a form of witnessing, particularly where architecture actively conceals or contradicts the sites’ function as carceral infrastructure. Beyond functioning as technical and evidentiary tools, this PhD examines expanded approaches to architectural documentation which can record in both accurate, and affective and embodied ways. To do this, redaction, absence, and opacity are employed as spatial strategies to connect representations to the carceral transformation of investigated sites and subjectivities of the architect-researcher, thus functioning as a mode of witnessing.
Supervisors: Dr Eduardo Kairuz, Dr Jason Crow, Dr Tom Morgan
Andrew Copolov
The Architect as Intermediary: Between the Staffroom and the Precarious City
This research examines how architects can help create fairer cities by supporting delivery riders and other precarious workers. It focuses on the Gig Workers’ Hub in Melbourne, which provided riders with essential amenities, opportunities to socialise, and a base for collective organisation. The project shows how architects can act as intermediaries, working between institutions and marginalised groups, to create spaces that foster dignity and solidarity. By comparing the Hub with similar initiatives overseas, the research highlights a broader role for architects: not only designing buildings, but shaping the conditions for more just and inclusive urban life.
Supervisors: Dr Eduardo Kairuz, Dr Tom Morgan, Dr Jacqui Alexander
Event Details
- Date:
- 30 October 2025 at 12:00 am – 2 November 2025 at 12:00 am
- Venue:
- MADA Gallery
- Categories:
- Architecture; Gallery / Exhibition; Gallery: MADA Gallery
Description
Join us for an exhibition by PhD candidates Mark Romei and Andrew Copolov at the MADA Gallery.
Mark Romei
Architectural Witnessing: Revealing the Spatial Redaction of Australia’s Grey Network of Hotel Detention
Through investigating Australia’s hotel detention network, with a particular focus on the Park Hotel, this research explores how architectural representation can act as a form of witnessing, particularly where architecture actively conceals or contradicts the sites’ function as carceral infrastructure. Beyond functioning as technical and evidentiary tools, this PhD examines expanded approaches to architectural documentation which can record in both accurate, and affective and embodied ways. To do this, redaction, absence, and opacity are employed as spatial strategies to connect representations to the carceral transformation of investigated sites and subjectivities of the architect-researcher, thus functioning as a mode of witnessing.
Supervisors: Dr Eduardo Kairuz, Dr Jason Crow, Dr Tom Morgan
Andrew Copolov
The Architect as Intermediary: Between the Staffroom and the Precarious City
This research examines how architects can help create fairer cities by supporting delivery riders and other precarious workers. It focuses on the Gig Workers’ Hub in Melbourne, which provided riders with essential amenities, opportunities to socialise, and a base for collective organisation. The project shows how architects can act as intermediaries, working between institutions and marginalised groups, to create spaces that foster dignity and solidarity. By comparing the Hub with similar initiatives overseas, the research highlights a broader role for architects: not only designing buildings, but shaping the conditions for more just and inclusive urban life.
Supervisors: Dr Eduardo Kairuz, Dr Tom Morgan, Dr Jacqui Alexander