Personal profile

Biography

Nicole Kalms is a Professor in the Department of Design and founding director of the Monash University XYX Lab which leads national and international research in Gender and Place. Nicole is the Associate Dean of Research for the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture.

Nicole has a PhD in Architecture from Monash University. She obtained her Bachelor Degree in Architecture from RMIT and practiced architecture for several years before undertaking a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture (RMIT). Nicole is a full-time member of Monash University’s Faculty Art, Design and Architecture where she is focused on cross-disciplinary research.

Professor Kalms’ scholarly contributions include the edited book Contentious Cities: Design and the Gendered Production of Space (Routledge 2021), the monograph Hypersexual City: The Provocation of Soft-Core Urbanism (Routledge 2017) examining sexualized representation and precincts in neoliberal cities. Her recent monograph She City: Design Out Women's Inequity in Cities (Bloomsbury 2023) draws on interdisciplinary research from gender scholars, design practitioners, and feminist activists to update the significant research on gender and the city. 

The innovation of Kalms’ research is the examination of digital, experiential, political and material interventions collated to articulate both the shared and conflicted struggles of minoritised communities internationally. Her praxis repositions design as a strategic tool for challenging  inequity.

Professor Kalms regularly writes for a diverse non-academic audience, and is frequently invited to speak to the public about identity and urban space at major national and international cultural institutions. Kalms has been interviewed on BBC World TV (2018) and France 24 TV (2019). Kalms was the keynote speaker at the Planning Institute of Australia  Congress (2019) and the Autonomy Mobility Summit in Paris (2019). Dr Kalms serves on a variety of advisory boards, committees and panels in relation to public policy, urban safety and placemaking. 

Research interests

Urbanism

Feminism

Spatial Practice

Feminism and Media

Critical Studies

Interdisciplinarity

Gender

Co-Design

Gender Equality

Transport and Mobility

Parks, Sports and Recreation spaces

Women and Girls

 

 

Supervision interests

Urbanism

Feminism

Spatial Practice

Spatial Media

Critical Studies

Interdisciplinarity

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Education/Academic qualification

High Performance Leadership, High Performance Leadership, University of Oxford

Award Date: 12 May 2023

Architecture, PhD, Hypersexual City: The Provocation of Soft-Core Urbanism, MONASH UNIVERSITY

3 Mar 20115 May 2017

Award Date: 30 May 2017

Landscape Architecture, Masters (Research), After Landscape, RMIT University

Award Date: 25 May 2006

Architecture, Bachelor (Hons), RMIT University

Award Date: 17 Mar 1998

Research area keywords

  • Sexuality
  • Gender
  • Feminism
  • Urbanism
  • Hypersexuality
  • Gender equality
  • Reduced Inequalities

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or