Bek Verrier and Alysia Bennett chat about diverse career paths and the challenges faced by students and young architects.
Our conversationalists for this session are Alysia Bennett and Bek Verrier. At the time of the conversation Alysia, who grew up in Tasmania, was at Monash University, and an active participant in Parlour’s WikiD initiative to write women into Wikipedia. She is now back in Tasmania and is senior policy officer in the Tasmanian Housing Strategy team at Homes Tasmania. Bek is an associate at Hobart practice Bence Mulcahy, and a very active participant in The Findlay Project.
Alysia and Bek’s conversation explores the challenges that young architects face, traversing a wide range of topics. They reminisce about the mental health struggles that come from the stress and sleep deprivation of architecture school, and highlight improvements in academia today. They discuss the pros and cons of competitions, alternative ideas for housing as urban sprawl increases, designing schools and measuring morgues, working in fire zones, and designing for their families. There is something for everyone in this lively conversation.
This episode is from the 2019 Hobart Winter Salon. Held in collaboration with the Findlay Project, it was recorded live on Muwinina Country at the Hobart Brickworks Design Studio on 12 July, 2019. Photographs: Nina Hamilton.
