Event Launch: Manijeh Verghese "Caring with, Caring for, caring together" / South X Initiative
Event details
| Date | 10.11.2025 |
| Hour | 18:30 › 20:00 |
| Speaker | Manijeh Verghese is an architect, educator, and curator based in London. She is the Head of Public Engagement at the Architectural Association and co-founder of Unscene Architecture, a practice exploring the future of collective space through research, exhibitions, and built work. Her projects examine how participation and storytelling can redefine civic engagement and architectural agency in both physical and digital contexts. Manijeh has curated exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and the London Design Festival, and her work has been published internationally. |
| Location |
Archizoom
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Manijeh Verghese " Caring with, caring for, caring together "
Monday, 10 November 2025; 18:30
Archizoom, EPFL
Care is something that exists at different scales and is a vital ingredient to construct and sustain community. However, it is increasingly missing in how we design processes, spaces or cities. Using the example of designing a story-led South Asia Gallery for Manchester Museum in partnership with the British Museum, this lecture will look at curation as a form of collective care and the frameworks that were necessary to invent in order to care for objects, stories, the 30 local experts who co-curated the gallery and, ultimately, the idea of South Asia itself.
Manijeh Verghese (she/ her) is an architecture curator, designer and educator. She is currently the CEO of Open City, a charity that aims to make architecture and cities more open, accessible and equitable. She is also one of the Mayor of London’s Design Advocates. She was co-curator of The Garden of Privatised Delights – the 2021 British Pavilion at the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale and was the interpretation specialist for the South Asia Gallery at the Manchester Museum in partnership with the British Museum. She was previously the Head of Public Engagement at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture where she also taught AA Diploma Unit 12.
The South X Initiative is a new platform at EPFL dedicated to bringing together voices from across the “Global South” to collectively think about our built environment. Here, “South” refers to geographies, material practices, climates, ecologies, and cultures that have navigated socio-political and ecological change, and in doing so, have produced distinct spatial forms and cultural traditions. Through semester-themed guest lectures, reading discussions, and workshops, the initiative offers a platform for exploring alternative methods, processes, and narratives of spatial praxes. e initiative offers a platform for exploring alternative methods, processes, and narratives of spatial praxes.
NB: We will be holding our second lecture on Monday 17 November 2025; 18:30, Archizoom with Shumi Bose
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- South X Initiative