Laura Belik is a doctoral candidate in architecture at UC Berkeley. She holds an MA in design studies from Parsons- The New School (New York) and a BArch in architecture and urban planning from Escola da Cidade (São Paulo- Brazil). Her current doctoral work delves into the histories and memories of early 20th-century migrant labor camps established for retirantes das secas(drought refugees) in Northeast Brazil, investigating the role of the built environment in shaping the modern Brazilian state. Laura has curated and co-curated exhibitions in Brazil and the U.S., including the recent Bunker: the optimism of the pessimistic. Her latest publications include the book chapter “Mobilizing Labor for Infrastructure in Northeast Brazil, 1915–1932” in The Routledge Handbook of Infrastructure Design (2022) and the paper “Paxiúba: Traditional Housing in the Western Amazon” published in Architectural Theory Review (2021).
EVENTS + CONTRIBUTIONS
On Social Architecture: Democracy, Design, and New Networks with Eric McDougall
The Perennial Mindset in the Era of Ageless with Gina Pell and Susan Hoffman
Porpentine Charity Heartscape on Experiment and Exploration
Barbara Hammer on Experiment and Exploration
Lynn Hershman Leeson on Experiment and Exploration
Assembly and Coherence in Design
Curator, researcher, producer and story-teller
Jacob Gaboury on Experiment and Exploration
The Natural History Museum and the Future of Nature
Art, Social Media and Inclusion: Black Futures with Kimberly Drew
Translation as Research with Ahmad Diab, Anneka Lenssen, and Kathy Zarur
Connectivity as Human Right with Nicholas Negroponte
Curation as Research and Resistance
The initiator: Implementing Arte Útil with Tania Bruguera
Regents’ Lecture with Emily Jacir
Cinematic experience: Curating the Moving Image: From Cinemas to Galleries with Kate MacKay
Creative Assembly Assembling on Mondays