Elizabeth Grant

Grant is a member of the Australian Creative Team (Tristan Wong, Jefa Greenaway, Aaron Puls and Jordyn Milliken) for the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale to be held in 2020. The exhibit entitled 'In Between' highlights the potential of architecture to build cultural understandings between First Nations Peoples and others with a focus on Australia and Pacific Island neighbours, echoing the overarching theme set by Hashim Sarkis titled “How will we live together?”

Grant has carried out research on the design of various environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and her work has led to changes in the way prisons, courts, pre-schools and other environments are designed for Indigenous users nationally and internationally. Her research on the design of prisons for Indigenous prisoners is highly significant and has led to new standards and guidelines for the design of custodial environments for Indigenous prisoners. This body of research was recognised by the International Corrections and Prisons Association and honoured in their 2015 awards. Grant was awarded a Churchill Fellow and investigated the design of correctional facilities for Indigenous prisoners in the United States New Zealand, Canada and Denmark for her fellowship. She has been a visiting scholar and senior research fellow at a number of universities including The University of Cambridge and The University of Queensland. Her research builds on work of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, of which key recommendations are yet to be actioned. Grant also works as a consultant to develop Indigenous design briefs and has been a member of the design teams on numerous architectural projects. These have included Taikurrendi Aboriginal Children and Family Centre, Gabmididi Manoo Aboriginal Children and Family Centre, Ngura Yadurirn Aboriginal Children and Family Centre, Northern Territory Secure Facilities PPP Project, Royal Adelaide Hospital Redevelopment Project Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison Project, South Australian Prison Project.

Elizabeth Grant (born 1963) is an Australian architectural anthropologist, criminologist and academic working in the field of Indigenous Architecture. She is a Churchill Fellow and has held academic positions at a number of universities including The University of Adelaide and is Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at RMIT University's RMIT School of Architecture and Design and holds an Adjunct Professorship at the University of Canberra and an adjunct Associate Professorship at the University of Queensland. She researches, writes and speaks on architecture and design for Indigenous peoples and prison architecture and reform. She is a regular guest on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and ABC Local Radio. She regularly writes and reviews architectural projects for architectural magazines such as Architecture Australia, the journal of the Australian Institute of Architects, the Australian Design Review and others.