In this episode host Emmett Scanlon meets Nathalie Weadick. Nathalie is the director of the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF). The IAF is an independent organisation dedicated to the promotion of architecture as culture. In a wide ranging conversation, Nathalie recalls her early career in Visual Arts and as Director of the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny and how she moved into architecture. The conversation covers risk taking, growing a desire for architecture, the impact of public engagement practices and that the time is here for a new "house" for architecture in Ireland. (The podcast was recorded on zoom) About Nathalie Weadick: Nathalie Weadick is a curator of architecture and spatial practice based in Dublin. She has been the director of the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) since 2007. Through the IAF she has delivered many initiatives exploring the impact of architecture on society, culture, and history. She initiated the development of a BMX Skate and Play Park, a community-led design project with Dublin City Council, Ballyfermot Community, and architects Relational Urbanism. The framework for this project developed into a national program called Reimagine. She established the ongoing and successful National Architects in Schools Initiative and produces Open House Dublin, Ireland’s largest architecture festival engaging thousands annually. From 2013 to 2021 she curated with Arup New Now Next a series of talks in Dublin with David Adjaye, Jeanne Gang, Tatiana Bilbao, Rozana Montiel, Kunle Adeyemi, Workac, Minsuk Cho, Ole Scheeren, Bjarke Ingels, Winy Maas, and Grafton Architects. 2017-2018 she was on the team of assistants to the Curators Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at Venice. In 2015 she was the Architecture Advisor for Irish Design 2015 and co-curated with Raymund Ryan New Horizon_Architecture from Ireland and presented ten emerging and current Irish practices at the London Festival of Architecture, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and the Hong Kong/Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale. In 2015/16 she curated We Built This City a series of panel discussions in London, Chicago, and New York about the impact of Irish creativity on global cities. In 2013 she curated The Everyday Experience in the Irish Museum of Modern Art about the impact of architecture on people. In 2008 she co-curated with Prof Hugh Campbell The Lives of Spaces for the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale and in 2010 she was Commissioner of the Irish exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale. 2004-2007 she held the position of Deputy Director at The Architecture Foundation in London and with Director Rowan Moore produced the London Debates in the Turbine Hall TATE Modern. Formerly, she was Director of the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny for five years, where she curated shows by international artists. She has written for many publications on visual arts and architecture. In 2017 she received an Honorary Fellowship from the RIBA. She is currently researching a Ph.D. at RMIT Melbourne and Queens University Belfast, Schools of Architecture. __ Music is by Sinead Finegan, played by the Delmaine String Quartet (Philip Dodd, leader). The podcast was recorded on Zoom in April 2021.

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