CHICAGO: Judith Neilson’s life has been a charmed one. As one of Australia’s richest women, she knows there’s an element of luck to winning life’s lottery, having seen the flip side during visits to refugee camps in Africa and China following the earthquakes.
Now the Zimbabwean-born art collector, gallery owner and philanthropist has joined the dots and has donated $10 million to the University of NSW’s architecture school. Ms Neilson’s gift will fund a chair focusing on research into the design of affordable and sustainable housing for the world’s vast – and growing – populations of people displaced by war, natural disasters, economic and environmental factors.
“Temporary housing and permanent housing are one and the same,” Ms Neilson says…