Design Education Talks ep. 60 – Lia Vilahur

Lefteris Heretakis

Lauren Alexander – Designing with Care, Complexity, and Responsibility – Design Education Talks

Lauren Alexander is an artist, educator, and researcher whose practice operates at the intersection of design, critical inquiry, and collective work. Born in South Africa in 1983 and now based in the Netherlands, her trajectory reflects a sustained engagement with questions of power, history, and representation. Trained originally as a graphic designer, Alexander has gradually expanded her practice beyond service based design, developing a research led approach that uses storytelling, archives, and collaboration as tools for cultural and political reflection She is currently co head of the Bachelor Graphic Design programme at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague where she works alongside Chantal Hendriksen to shape the strategic direction of contemporary design education. Between 2017 and 2024, she developed and taught Critical Storytelling in the MA Non Linear Narrative programme, a course centred on collaborative research methodologies and the examination of complex socio political contexts. Across her teaching, Alexander emphasises uncertainty, ethical responsibility, and critical literacy, encouraging students to engage deeply with both material and digital cultures rather than seeking quick or resolved outcomes Alongside her academic role, Alexander is co founder of Foundland Collective, a long term collaborative practice established in 2009 with Syrian designer Ghalia Elsrakbi. Foundland’s work investigates political narratives, migration, and media representation through art, design, writing, and video, and has been recognised internationally through fellowships, awards, and exhibitions at institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, Ars Electronica, and the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Together, Alexander’s educational and artistic practices articulate a vision of design not as neutral problem solving, but as an ethical and cultural practice embedded in history, power, and lived experience Find more about her work here https://www.kabk.nl/en/teachers/lauren-alexanderhttps://foundland.info/Support the showSince its inception in 2019, Design Education Talks podcast has served as a dynamic platform for the exchange of insights and ideas within the realm of art and design education. This initiative sprang from a culmination of nearly a decade of extensive research conducted by Lefteris Heretakis. His rich background, intertwining academia, industry, and student engagement, laid the foundation for a podcast that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of educational discourse.See all of our work on on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschoolFollow us on twitter at @newartschoolRead our latest articles at https://newartschool.education/and https://heretakis.medium.com/Equipment used to produce the podcast:Rodcaster pro IIRode NT1 5th generationElgato Low profile Microphone ArmMonster Prolink Studio Pro microphone cableThe rest of the equipment is here 👉https://kit.co/heretakis/podcasting
  1. Lauren Alexander – Designing with Care, Complexity, and Responsibility
  2. Design as Experience: Ksenija Miļča on Interiors, Branding and Education
  3. The Education of Attention: Esen Karol on Design, Publishing and Joy Teaching Designers to See: A Conversation with Esen Karol
  4. Simon Collins – What Design Schools Get Wrong About the Real World
  5. Graham Fink – Why Process Matters More Than Finish in Creative Work

Lia Vilahur Chiaraviglio is currently the Director of International at ERAM College, Girona, and a Graphic Designer. During her professional career she worked as: interior architect, industrial- graphic designer, and managing multidisciplinary teams. She co-founded and managed together with Eric Olivares the design studio, Inlightdesign SCP.

As an artist, she works mainly with collage and acrylics and sometimes with watercolour and woodprints. She participates in international congress and teaches workshops for different design faculties in Latin America, Asia and Europe. From 2004 to 2014 she worked as a teacher at the IED (European Institute of Barcelona) being the professor of the following subjects: Design Foundation, Colour and Trends, Material and innovation, Lighting, Presentation Techniques and Project Communication, at both bachelor and master levels. In the academic field she also worked as external coordinator, for the degree in Interior design at IED Barcelona, and as Program Leader for the Degree of Graphic Communication of the Northampton in ERAMCollege.

She worked for Materio FAD, on the research and divulgation of materials innovation. She is co-author of the book “Drawing for graphic designers”. Her education background is at Art History (UAB, Barcelona) with a one-year exchange student (University of Bologna). A BA Interior Design from IED Milan, with a cumulus exchange at Lahti Polytechnic Finland. And the “Renewable energies, Sustainability studies” from MasterD.

On linkedin is available more information about the studies and Curriculum Vitae. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lia-vilahur-chiaraviglio

Portfolio: www.liavilahur.com

Art-works and inspiration photography in Instagram @liavilahurchiaraviglio

Info about talks, conferences and workshops, awards and more: https://www.facebook.com/lia.vilahurSupport the show

Follow us on twitter at @newartschool
Visits us on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschool
Read our latest articles at https://heretakis.wordpress.com/
and https://heretakis.medium.com/

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Published by Lefteris Heretakis

Navigating you through the disruption in #art, #design and #designeducation.

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