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Dr Shida Changizi

Selected Portfolio

A-00 / 06

Dr ShidaChangizi

Architect, academic leader & exhibition-maker

Portrait of Dr Shida Changizi
Plate 00
Roles held
Dean · Head of Architecture · Faculty Member
Location
Melbourne, VIC
Issue
2026
  1. 01  Practice
  2. 02  Exhibitions
  3. 03  Recognition
  4. 04  Programmes
  5. 05  Leadership
  6. 06  Photography
PracticeA-01 / 06

A practice across space, culture & education

My work has developed at the intersection of architecture, higher education, exhibition-making, photography and cultural programming.

Dr Shida Changizi reviewing architectural drawings with colleagues
01.1Reviewing architectural drawings with colleagues.

  1. Exhibition-making as spatial storytelling

    Design, installation, lighting and display — from client brief to opening night.

  2. Leadership that stays close to delivery

    Architectural judgement and hands-on production handled by the same person.

  3. Student work made public

    End-of-semester juries and showcases run as a standing programme, across four disciplines.

  4. Platforms for exchange

    Six seminar series, from climate change to architectural poetics.

  5. Culture as participation

    Community and children's cultural programmes alongside the university work.

  6. Supporting creative excellence

    Three national architecture competitions organised; jury member on others.

In figuresFrom the record
02Weeks
Client brief to delivered exhibition stand
05Days
Earthquake to opening, In Memory of Bam
06Series
Named architecture seminar series
03Competitions
National architecture competitions organised
ExhibitionsA-02 / 06

Exhibition-making as spatial storytelling

Architectural judgement combined with hands-on delivery — from client brief to installed, public-facing display.

Exhibition designApproximately two weeks, brief to delivery

Pooyesh Darou exhibition booth

An exhibition stand taken from client brief through design correction and production coordination to delivery, in approximately two weeks.

Exhibition experience combining architectural judgement with hands-on delivery: presentation systems, exhibition-space design, installation, lighting, graphic material and public-facing displays.

An architecture background brings attention to detail, buildability, safety, sequencing and the physical realities of installation.

  • Exhibition design
  • Production coordination
  • Installation
The Pooyesh Darou exhibition booth, seen across the stand
02.1Pooyesh Darou exhibition booth.
The Pooyesh Darou exhibition booth
02.2Detail — stand signage.
On record04
  1. 2003Humanitarian photography exhibitionIn Memory of Bam

    Organised five days after the Bam earthquake, presenting images of the city from before and after the disaster.

  2. 2002International programme — Aga Khan Award for ArchitectureArchitecture for Changing Societies

    Managed the development and set-up of a related exhibition, and supervised the design and production of cultural-heritage posters.

  3. —PhotographySolo exhibition, Arte Gallery

    A two-day solo photography exhibition, alongside recognition in national photography competitions and an independent home gallery maintained for five years.

  4. —Academic galleryUniversity exhibitions & emerging practice

    Recurring end-of-semester architecture juries and public showcases, extended across architecture, graphic design, fashion and furniture and product design.

RecognitionA-03 / 06

Selected academic & cultural recognitions

Contributions to academic, exhibition and cultural initiatives — art and photography exhibitions, student programs, visual literacy education, and collaboration with universities and cultural organisations.

On record05
  1. No document on file
    2021Certificate of Appreciation

    Exemplary Ethical Engineer in Architecture

    Awarded by the Building Engineering Organisation.

  2. IFIA certificate of Inv membership issued to Shida Changizi
    2020International recognition

    IFIA “Inv” membership

    Recognised as an Inv member by the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations.

  3. Yazd Province Building Engineering Organisation feature for International Women in Engineering Day, 2017
    2017Yazd Province

    First woman board member

    Yazd Province Building Engineering Organisation.

  4. Certificate of participation, oral paper, Second International Congress on Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism, Dubai 2016
    2016Oral paper

    Improve the quality of architectural education in the professional preparation of graduates

    Second International Congress on Sustainable Architecture & Urbanism, Dubai, 11–12 March 2016.

  5. Certificate of participation, poster, Second International Congress on Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism, Dubai 2016
    2016Poster

    An overview of the identity in architecture

    Second International Congress on Sustainable Architecture & Urbanism, Dubai, 11–12 March 2016.

ProgrammesA-04 / 06

Talks, seminars & public programs

Creating platforms for exchange

  1. 01Tea with Architecture
  2. 02The Unspoken Dynamics Between Designer and Client
  3. 03Textiles in Architecture
  4. 04Architecture in the Age of Climate Change
  5. 05Landscape Architecture
  6. 06In Search of Architectural Poetics
  • Program conception and speaker engagement
  • Hosting, moderation and public speaking
  • Audience development through university and social channels
Audience at an architecture seminar
04.1Audience at one of the architecture seminars.

As an academic leader she initiated, hosted and facilitated specialist architecture programs, bringing students into conversation with academics and practitioners. Topics ranged from virtual reality and architectural futures to professional practice, climate change, design relationships and architectural imagination.

LeadershipA-05 / 06

Leading people, programs & partnerships

Senior academic leadership across multidisciplinary art and architecture programs.

Roles held
  1. 01Dean
  2. 02Head of Architecture
  3. 03Faculty Member
“In a professional working environment there is no difference between women and men.”
International Women in Engineering Day, 23 June 2017First woman to serve on the board of the Yazd Province Building Engineering Organisation
  • Strategic and academic leadership across multidisciplinary art and architecture programs.
  • Coordination of staff, students, research, teaching quality and competing priorities.
  • Development of collaborations across academic, professional and cultural networks.
  • Organisation of exhibitions, workshops, seminars, competitions and public-facing activities.

Supporting creative excellence and cultural expression

  1. ThreeNational architecture competitions organised
  2. OngoingJury member, national student competitions
  3. TwoLivelihood exercise programs on identity and cultural expression
  4. StandingPublic-facing opportunities for students and emerging practitioners

End-of-semester student design reviews; fashion and garment design exhibitions; welcome speeches for newly admitted students; meetings with postgraduate architecture students alongside the University President; and the Contemporary Houses lecture series.

Speeches and welcoming remarks at the Teachers' Day ceremony and at the launches of The Comprehensive Encyclopaedia of Sewing, Iran and Al-Andalus, and The School of Development, as Dean and an appointee of the University President.

Creative practiceA-06 / 06

Photography & visual culture

A visual practice grounded in place, memory and observation — informing how images are read, narratives sequenced, and the emotional register of exhibition space understood.

  1. 01Isfahan · two daysSolo exhibition, Arte Gallery
  2. 02RecognitionNational photography competitions
  3. 03Five yearsIndependent home gallery

In closing

A gallery can be a place where ideas become encounters.

Experiencing cultural institutions first-hand has shaped the way I think about exhibitions: as encounters between ideas, space, people and place.

Get in touchhello@shidachangizi.com