Irene Boles

Irene is a Senior Lecturer in the Bachelor of Architectural Studies Programme at Ara Institute of Canterbury, Faculty of Applied Technology and a PhD student in the School of Future Environments at AUT.

With over 10 years of teaching, management and governance experience, Irene’s research focuses on collective housing and inclusivity through community engagement practices.

After moving to Aotearoa from Italy in 2010, Irene played a significant role in the post-quake Transitional City Making movement in Christchurch, being involved in community-led projects, such as the Sumner Masterplan and as co-author of the book “Christchurch the Transitional City Part IV”. She was also Chair of the Life in Vacant Spaces Charitable Trust for 5 years, enabling the revitalization of vacant sites around the city.

Today Irene is a mum of two boys, a passionate collective housing advocate and researcher, committee member and of The Housing Innovation Society (THIS), Chair of the Canterbury Chapter of the Urban Development Institute of New Zealand (UDINZ) and an academic colleague of both NZIA and ADNZ.

Irene will be speaking at the Journey to 2125 session during the Better Building Day at Wao Summit 2025.