Dr Livia Lazzaro Rezende
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History of Design, V&A/Royal College of Art History of Design programme, UK
Master in Design, PUC-Rio, Brazil
Bachelor in Industrial and Graphic Design, ESDI, Brazil
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, AdvanceHE, UK
Postgraduate Certificate in Art & Design Education, Royal College of Art, UK
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Livia RezendeÌęis a design historian living and working on unceded Gadigal land.Ìę
She is the Postgraduate Coordinator for the School of Art & Design, where she teachesÌęDesign History and Theory and supervises postgraduate students in correlate fields. Livia welcomes enquiries from applicants interested in undertaking an MFA, MPhil or PhD by thesis or by practice.
Livia holds a doctoral degree from the V&A/Royal College of Art History of Design Programme,Ìęa Master's and aÌęBachelor's degree in graphic and industrial design from Brazil. SheÌęholds a Postgraduate Certificate in Art & Design Education and is a Senior Fellow of the Advance Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
Livia is an expert in exhibition histories and histories of design practice in postcolonial contextsâincluding designâs environmental, cultural, and social impacts.ÌęLivia is internationally renowned in the field of Design History as a Latin American scholar whose publications and thought leadership contribute to expanding the disciplineâs geographical and methodological reaches. Livia works with innovative research methods that advance transnational and intersectional design histories, promote positionality and perspective sharing in scholarly and teaching practices. She is recognised for introducing non-Western perspectives and knowledges to the field, for critically reassessing archival methodologies in design, and for advancing collaborative history writing.Ìę
As Book Editor forÌęthe Manchester University Press, Livia advises on the academicÌęstanding of book proposals and manuscripts in theÌęStudies in Design and Material Culture series. She is also Editor of the Journal of Design History with special responsibility forÌę, a new strategic editorial direction underpinned by EDI principles to foster publishing access for underrepresented groups.Ìę
As one of the co-founders of the international research collectiveÌę, sheÌęworks on decolonial methods and praxis through public engagement, educational impact, and scholarlyÌęoutputs.
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- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Australian Council of University Art and Design, 2023: A Decolonial Design History Educators Network, $5,000Ìęwith Nicola St John (RMIT),ÌęFanny Suhendra (Swinburne),ÌęDiana AlbarrĂĄn GonzĂĄlez (Univesrity of Auckland),ÌęNina Gibbes and Zenobia Ahmed
UNSW School of Art & Design Research Grant (Seed Funding Scheme), 2023: $2,739
UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture Faculty Research Fellow, 2021-2022: $45,000
UNSW Art & Design Faculty Research Grant, 2019: $4,997
Royal College of Art (RCA), Research & Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund, 2018: $1,000
Arts & Humanities Research Council UK / Newton Fund, 2017:ÌęDevelopment through the Creative Economy in China, $6,500
Royal College of Art (RCA), Research Development Fund, 2014-2015: $3,500
2021-22 ÌęUNSW Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture Research FellowÌę
2021 ÌęSenior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Ìę
2020 ÌęDesign Writing Prize,ÌęDesign History Society, United Kingdom
2019 ÌęUNSW Art & Design Dean's Award for Research Excellence
2013 ÌęVisiting Professorship, Rio de Janeiro State University, Brazil
2012 ÌęJunior Postdoctoral Scholarship, Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)
2007-10 ÌęFull Doctoral Award, CAPES Foundation of Brazil
2010 ÌęConference Travel Grant, Design History Society, United Kingdom
2008 ÌęConference Travel Prize, UK Society for Latin American Studies
2005 ÌęBest Written Work, Museu da Casa Brasileira, Brazil
2001-03 ÌęFull Master's Degree Award, Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and CAPES Foundation of Brazil
Livia's previous research project and publications discussed nation-building efforts through designed pavilions, visual communication, exhibits and displays in 19th-century International Exhibitions and Worldâs Fairs, with emphasis on the commodification of raw materials and the gendering of nature in these âdesign pageantriesâ.ÌęÌę
Current research projects includet:
The Discipline of Modern Design: Professionalization, Modernization and Authoritarianism in Brazil during the Cold War, 1947-1985: This book project explores how, during the Cold War, Latin America witnessed a boom in design practice and the professionalisation of the discipline. As evidenced by modernist BrasĂlia (1960) or the cutting-edge Cybersyn project in Chile (1971-1973), Latin America became a haven for the realisation of design-driven international projects. Also, the region was the focus of geopolitical tensions between the United Stated and the Soviet Union, resulting in several US-backed âanti-communistâ military coups and the installation of authoritarian regimes that lasted decades. The Discipline of Modern Design is the first book to analyse, from a transnational history perspective, the institutionalisation and professionalisation of modern design and the rise of authoritarianism as associated events underpinned by Cold War politics. Drawing on international archives and oral histories, the book argues that âmodern designâ and âgood designâ discourses served not only the Brazilian military dictatorshipâs modernization agenda but also the upholding of sociocultural exclusion and conservatism.ÌęThis project has received a series of small grants, prizes, commissions, critical acclaim, and public attention that evidence the timeliness of research into historical precedents to the current rise of authoritarian cultures.
InterDesigning Network:ÌęFormerly known at theÌęDecolonial Design History Educators Network, this international research group (RMIT, Swinburne, UNSW, and University of Auckland) investigates how design curriculum and teaching practices address social injustice. Projected impact includes supporting, through outreach activities, end-users in Design Schools to teach diverse and inclusive design histories. Funded by an Australian Council of University Art & Design Schools (ACUADS) CAT3 grant.
- Book Series Editor,ÌęStudies in Design and Material Culture (Manchester University Press)
- Editorial Board, Journal of Design History (OxfordÌęUniversity Press), with special responsibility for the Explorations section
- Book ReviewÌęEditor,ÌęJournal of Modern Craft (Taylor & Francis)
- Member,ÌęSociety of Architectural Historians Australia and New ZealandÌę(SAHANZ)Ìę
- Member,ÌęArt Association of Australia and New ZealandÌę(AAANZ)
- Member,ÌęDesign History Society UK
My Research Supervision
Livia is eligible and has capacity to primaryÌęsupervise MFA, MPhil, and PhDÌęcandidatesÌęby thesisÌęor by practice.
She welcomes supervision enquiries in Design History and Theory, Craft History and Theory, Latin American Cultural History, and correlate fields. Among other areas, research focus can include exhibition histories, theories and histories of nationalism & national identity formation, gender theory, transnational and intersectional histories, critical archival methods, and decolonial thinking and praxis.
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Current PhD & MFA Supervisions
- Bridgit Moran, PhD. âAnalysing Craft Policy in Australia 1971-2011â (Joint with Dr Diana Perche,ÌęSchool of Social Sciences)
- Tzu-Mei Stewart, PhD, âUtopias and the Architectural Imaginary: Desire, identity and otherness in modern architectureâ (Joint with Prof. Stephen Loo)
- Ashley Eriksmoen, PhD, ââMaking withâ: counteracting conventional material production and consumption through ecofeminism, adversarial design, and circular economy approachesâ (Joint with Dr Fernando do Campo)
- Alice Couttoupes, MFA, âArtefacts of empire and enlightenment: examining eighteenth century British creative and scientific practices on stolen Indigenous lands.â
- Tulla Carson, MFA, âThe Land Speaks: Relationality, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Australian Landscape explored through Design Anthropology, Respectful Design and Objects.âÌę
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Completed PhD Supervisions
- Dr Natalie OâConnor, 2022, âThe Nature of Redness: A Practice-Based Research into Red Pigments to Offer a New Understanding of Material Colourâ, School of Art & Design, UNSW
- Dr Emin ArtunÌęĂzgĂŒner, 2020, âInheritance / Disavowal: Commemorating and Representing the Nation-State in Turkey from Empire to Republic, 1908-1950sâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Dr Yun Wang, 2019, âThe History of Contemporary Chinese Graphic Design in the Context of Globalisationâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Dr Yongkeun Chun, 2019, âDisplayed Modernity: Advertising and Commercial Art in Colonial Koreaâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
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Completed Master by Research Supervision (as Primary Supervisor)
- Catherine Hill, 2017-2018, âObjects of Empowerment: Posters by the See Red Womenâs Workshopâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION
- Elena Jarmoskaite, 2017-2018, âBad Blood: Motivated Reasoning in the Visual Communication Promoting Anti-Vaccinationist Views in the Nineteenth and Twenty-first Century United States of Americaâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION
- Lisa Rotzinger, 2017-2018, âBruce Archer and Research at the Royal College of Art (1961-2002). Theoretical Frameworks for Research in Design in the Context of an Institutionâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Eva Kasser, 2017-2018, âThe Functionalism Debate: Connecting the divided Germany. On the Theoretical Education of Industrial Design in the former German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic Germany, with a special focus on the period before Germany's Reunificationâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Ayelet Shats, 2016-2017, âNative Style: Ethnographic Dress Collections, Khaki Clothes and the Omnipresence of Fashion in Mandatory Palestine and Israel 1917-1967â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION
- Ruth Sykes, 2016-2017, â'Sexism, Our Stock-in-trade': Feminism and Female Graphic Designersâ educational and professional experiences in London during feminismâs joint waveâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Guglielmo Rossi, 2016-2017, âThe Collective Production of Radical Politics in Print: Libertarian Culture and Publishing in the 1970sâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Alex Heslop, 2015-2016, âOpen Shop: A Reassessment of London's Printing Trades, 1980-1992â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION and Best Dissertation Prize.
- Derya Adiyama, 2015-2016, âAn Identity Dilemma: âTurkish(less)-nessâ in Industrial Design in Turkeyâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Kate OâNeill, 2015-2016, âCapturing the Invisible? Photography and Domestic Service in Britain, 1840-1920â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Laura Quintrell, 2014-2015, âMaterialising Informal Empire: Great Britain and Argentina on Display at the ExposiciĂłn Internacional del Centenario (1910)â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Miranda Vane, 2014-2015, âDesigning the Delicious: A Design History of Contemporary Food Makingâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Sophie Farrelly, 2014-2015, âThe Design of the Children's Nursery from 1850 to 1914â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Tania Messel, 2013-2014, âUnity in a Tangled World. The Introduction and Development of Corporate Identity programmes in France, 1950-1975â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION
- Everton Barreiro, 2013-2015, âThe Hybrid Man in the Tropics': Flavio de Carvalho's New Look and Histories of Brazilian Modernist Dressâ, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Steffi Duarte, 2013-2014, âAgents of the Struggle: Posters by the ANC in Exile and European Solidarity Movements Against South African Apartheid, 1960-90â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
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Completed Master by Research Supervision (as Joint Supervisor)
- Kara Bargmann, 2015-2016, âManifesting Destiny: The American Craft Council, the Society of North American Goldsmiths and the influence of craft communities on the contemporary jewellery practitioner 1939â1984â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Susan Newell, 2015-2016, âCeramics as âapplications of geologyâ, an exploration of the collection of the Museum of Practical Geology, c. 1835â1860â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Kaisu Savola, 2014-2015, âWhen Beauty is Not Enough. A Short History of the Scandinavian Design Studentsâ Organisation 1966-1969â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION
- Ellen Rivers, 2014-2015, âDesigned Futures in Omni Magazine 1978-88â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Josephine Tierney, 2013-2014, âDesigning Taste: a Re-examination of British Printed Textiles 1830-1899â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. Awarded DISTINCTION and Best Dissertation Prize.
- Georgia Cherry, 2013-2014, âDefining the 'Dark Light'. The Mediation of X-Ray in England, 1895-c.1906â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
- Thomas Warham, 2013-2014, âChairman Maoâs Parades: Spectacle and Spectatorship in the Festivities of Chinese National Day, 1949-1976â, V&A/RCA History of Design Programme
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Completed Supervision of Critical and Historical Studies Mastersâ Dissertation (as Primary Supervisor)
- Janna Fuller, 2016, âWhat Somali boarding schools and design theorists can teach Detroit about improving its broken education systemâ, Global Innovation Design Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London. Awarded DISTINCTION.
- Clea Jentsch, 2016, âOwn Less, Live Moreâ, Global Innovation Design Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London. Awarded DISTINCTION.
- Fiona OâLeary, 2016, âAn Awkward Identity: The Construction of Identity through Experience of Assistive Aidsâ, Design Products Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art. Awarded DISTINCTION
- Catherine Ka Hei Suen, 2016, âFive Dimensional Sensorial Strategiesâ, Innovation Design Engineering Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London
- Jorge Cartes Sanhueza, 2016, âMass Customization: an ethical dilemma for designers: cosmetic or functional customized design?â, Innovation Design Engineering Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London
- Oliver Lehtonen, 2016, âTrans-industrial designer generations: Opportunities and Responsibilities in the Design Industryâ, Innovation Design Engineering Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London
- Elodie Soler, 2016, âFood, Design & Behavioural Economicsâ, Innovation Design Engineering Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London
- Luca Alessandrini, 2016, âThe Role of Makers Revolution in the Italian Contemporary Economic Scenarioâ, Innovation Design Engineering Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London
- Jan Samuel Libin-Libera, 2016, âFailure and Experiment: the other side of progressâ, Design Products Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art
- Vaclav Mlynar, 2016, âIn Design We Trust: The importance of creativity in shaping our futureâ, Design Products Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art
- Kawther Alsaffar, 2016, âThe Value of Culture in Design: a non-Western global perspectiveâ, Design Products Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art
- Felicie Eymard Ericsdottir, 2016, âWhere absence and emptiness are more present that anything tangibleâ, Design Products Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art
- Jane Kim, 2016, âMemoryâ, Design Products Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art
- Yeting Jiang, 2016, âHow design inspired by national culture can succeed globally?â, Global Innovation Design Master's Programme, School of Design, Royal College of Art/Imperial College London
My Teaching
Livia has co-designed all four core courses in the Design History and Theory curriculum for the Bachelor of Design (Integrated Design) program.
At the School of Art & Design, she teaches into Design History and Theory at undergraduate and postgraduate levels:
- Design History and Theory 1: National Design Histories (DDES1200)
- Design History and Theory 2: Global Design DebatesÌę(DDES1201)Ìę
- Design History and Theory 3: Positions in Design (DDES2200)
- Design History and Theory 4: The Making of Design Cultures (DDES3200)
- Histories and Theories for Design, Master's of Design (SAHT9143)