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Sandra Kaji-O'Grady is an architectural academic and educator based in Brisbane, Australia. She is currently Professor of Architecture, Dean and Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland.
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Career
Sandra Kaji-O'Grady has played an extensive role in architectural academia and tertiary education in Australia. She was Head of School at UTS (2005–2009), Professor and Head of Discipline at the University of Sydney (2011) and has been Professor, Head of School and Dean of Architecture at the University of Queensland since 2013. She currently sits on the editorial boards of Architecture and Culture, Studies in Material Thinking and Architecture Theory Review.
Kaji-O'Grady resigned as Head of School from the University of Sydney "after the dean of architecture, design and planning, John Redmond, sent letters to more than 100 students at other universities guaranteeing them a place if they switched preferences to Sydney University – contravening anti-solicitation rules." Almost the entire department supported her in demanding the dean's resignation.
Kaji-O'Grady co-directed, with architect John de Manincor, the 2013 National Conference of the Australian Institute of Architects. The conference, entitled Material, explored architecture's embrace of new materials and "expand the discourse on materiality beyond phenomena and affect to explore political, environmental and technological concerns." Kaji-O'Grady and De Manincor assembled a diverse assemblage of speakers, "from Matthias Kohler's research into robotics, to Kathrin Aste's sublime interventions in steel and concrete, to Cesare Peeren's radical approach to upcycling." The 2013 conference was also notable for ensuring a gender-balance in speakers at the architecture conference. Kaji-O'Grady writes that her co-director John de Manincor constructed a colourful spreadsheet that allowed them "to organize potential speakers according to material sub-theme, nationality and geographical reach of projects, scale of practice and, of course, gender."
Research
Sandra Kaji-O'Grady's research interests include contemporary laboratory buildings and the cross-fertilization between architecture, science and art in the 1960s and 1970s. She was also part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Equity and Diversity in the Australian Architecture Profession: Women, Work, and Leadership, led by Naomi Stead of the University of Queensland. One outcome of this research is publishing platform Parlour, which "brings together research, informed opinion and resources on women, equity and architecture in Australia." Kaji-O'Grady writes that the "project began with the observation that while women are statistically more likely to leave the profession and significantly less likely to reach the upper echelons of architectural practice than men, there was wildly divergent representation of women across different practices." Sandra Kaji-O'Grady, as part of Parlour, has made a significant impact on the Australian architectural profession by providing "employers, employees and industry bodies with a tool kit for addressing inequity in the workplace," such as the informal promotion system that tends to favour males.
Writing
Kaji-O'Grady has written extensively for both academic and popular journals, including The Journal of Architecture, Journal of Architectural Education, Architecture Theory Review, Architecture Australia, Architectural Review Australia, Artichoke, Object Magazine and Monument. She made a significant contribution to Australian architectural theory in the publication Conditions, Connections and Change: Reviewing Australian Architectural Theory 1880–2000, which she co-authored with Julie Willis. It employs "a chronological range to review the field of Australian architectural theory between 1880 and 2000."