Rate My Professor Hannah Lewi

Professor Hannah Lewi is a Professor in the Melbourne School of Design within the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. She holds a PhD, Bachelor of Architecture (Honours), and Bachelor of Arts, all from the University of Western Australia. A registered architect with the Australian Institute of Architects, Lewi's areas of expertise encompass architectural design, history, and theory, with research interests in modern architecture history, conservation and heritage, and new media technologies for history and heritage communication. She co-directs the Australian Centre for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage (ACAHUCH). Lewi has served as past President of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) from 2005 to 2007, co-editor of the journal Fabrications, convener of the Victorian working group of Docomomo Australia, and member of the Docomomo International Specialist Committee for Landscapes and Urbanism. Her academic career began at Curtin University before her appointment at the University of Melbourne.

Lewi has co-led significant Australian Research Council-funded projects, including Citizen Heritage, which developed the PastPort mobile app for citizen-led heritage documentation, and Campus: Building Modern Australian Universities. Key publications include co-authorship of Australia Modern: Architecture, Landscape & Design (2019, with Philip Goad), editorship of The Routledge International Handbook of New Digital Practices in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Heritage Sites (2019, with Wally Smith, Dirk vom Lehn, and Steven Cooke), Community: Building Modern Australia (2010, with David Nichols), and Mass Housing: Modern Architecture and State Power – A Global History. Other notable works feature 'PastPort': Reflections on the Design of a Mobile App for Citizen Heritage in Port Melbourne (2018), Reconstruction in Retrospect: The Exigencies of Heritage Culture (2018), and contributions to exhibitions such as The Pool at the 2016 Venice Biennale, where she acted as historical advisor. She co-convened the symposium Keeping the Past Public: The Documentation and Conservation of Modern Public Places. Lewi's scholarship has advanced digital heritage practices, conservation of modern public architecture, and public engagement with architectural history.