Ilona Gaynor b. 1986, UK
Education
2009–2011, Royal College of Art, MA(RCA) Design Interactions, London, UK; 2004–2007, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, BA(hons) Moving Image Design, London, UK

Teaching
2026–2027: GW Corcoran Wernick Richman Visiting Professorship in Design; 2024–2026: Rhode Island School of Design, Industrial Design, Associate Professor-in-Residence; 2022–2024: University at Buffalo, Design, Assistant Professor and Area Head; 2022–2024: NEW INC, New Museum, Dedicated Mentor, 2016–2021: School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Professor and Graduate Director of Designed Objects; 2020, Architecture Association, Speculative Studies, Visiting Professor; 2011-2012, Bournemouth University, Interaction, Graphic and Media Design, Professor-of-Practice

Residencies and Awards
2026–2028 Akademie Schloss Solitude in Spatial Practice, Stuttgart, DE; Headlands Center for the Arts Resident in Architecture / Environment, Marin County, US; The Slit Library Resident, Los Angeles, US; Sociability of Sleep, Artist in Residence and Research Fellowship, McGill University, Montreal, CA; Disegno Design Journal Residency, Aram Gallery London, UK; Wellcome Trust Art Award; Designer in Residence, The Design Museum, London, UK; Researcher in Residence, V2 Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, NL; Media Design Practices (MDP), Summer Research Residency, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, US; Artist in Residence to Director Ridley Scott, RSA Films, London, UK

Lectures
Design Means Lecture Series, Department of Design, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK; Studio Live Series Hosted by Onkar Kular, MFA Design Interventions, HDK Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg, SE; Lecture, Exhibition, Courtroom interiors: Performance of Justice, Asplund and the Court House, The Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, SE; Artists Talk, Paracosmologies: World Building in Art, Literature and Design, Media Design Practices, ArtCenter College of Design, Los Angeles, US; Lecture “The Law is a Design Language”, Department of Law, Harvard University, US; Artists Talk, Department of Industrial Design Graduate Studies, RISD, US; Artists Talk, Department of Design, Sheffield Hallam University, UK; Lecture, “Object Film Systems” Department of Industrial Design, Parsons, The New School, NY; Lecture, “Threads of Deviation: Sleep Capitalism” Department of English MacGill University, Montreal, CA; Visiting Speaker Series, Department of Art, University at Buffalo (SUNY), NY; Lecture, On Counter Hegemonic Architectures Department of Architecture, Vertical Geopolitics Lab, University of Toronto, Daniels (online); Lecture “Threads of Deviation”, Writers Forum,Department of Writing, Pratt Institute, NY; Lecture, Department of Film; Visual Arts, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, Mexico City; Lecture, Threads of Deviation; A Design History of Sabotage, UTK Department of Architecture + Design, TAAST 2021, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, US; Lecture, The Future of Women’s Work, Media Design Practice, Arts Center College of Design, Pasadena, US; Artists Talk, ABS4, Department of Architecture, Royal College of Art, London UK; Panelist, with Jake and Dinos Chapman, The Architecture Association, London, UK; Lecture, Civil Disobedience, Industrial Design, Pratt Intitute, US; Master Lecture, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL; Lecture, Speculation, Research and Design Department of Design, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, US; Lecture, Design Means Lecture Series, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK; Artists Talk, University of the Underground, Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam, NL; Panel and Lecture, “The Voice of the Enemy is Female”, Civitas at Large, American Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice, IT; Artists Talk, Department of Design, Vilnius Academy, Vilnius, LT; Lecture, Industrial Design Department, Muthesius University of Fine Arts, Berlin, DE; Lecture, Performing Practice, Department of Fine Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, US; Artists Talk, Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US; Artists Presentation, Deep Ocean, Law Warschaw Gallery, Macalester, College, St Paul, US; Panelist, Bauhaus Futures, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago‘ The Brilliant Women of Design, London College of Communication, UAL, London; Panelist, Bauhaus Legacy? Goethe-Institute, Chicago Architecture Biennial, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Lecture, Department of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago; Artists Talk, Fashion, Jewellery Department, London College of Fashion, London, UK; Conference Speaker and Panelist; alongside David Byrne, Alice Rawsthorn, Natalie Jeremijenko and Justin McGuirk Utopia vs Dystopia, A/D/O Gallery, Brooklyn; Artists Talk, Materials Innovation Lab, Adidas Headquarters, Portland; Artists Talk, Interventions in Capitalism, Research Group, Digital + Media Department, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; Pecha Kucha, Scale Model as Actor, Mixed Tape Series Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; Keynote Speaker, Better World by Design Conference, Brown University, Providence, US; Conference Speaker, Tektoniks, ACT Festival, Asia Culture Center (ACC), Gwangju, KR; Speaker (Symposium), Aerials, The Alpine Review Magazine, Toronto, CA; Symposium Speaker, Sleep Science, BBC Radio 4 and The Wellcome Trust, London; Symposium Panelist, We Have Never Been Speculative Enough, Central St Martins (UAL), London; Lecture,”The Long Con”, The Object Agency, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London Artists Talk, Department of Film and Television, Staffordshire University, UK; Lecture, C.S.I Design, Crime Scenes and Suspect Objects, Critical and Historical Studies Department, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Lecture, Narrative Schematics, University of Gothenburg (HDK), Gothenberg, SE; Artists Talk, FACT, Liverpool, UK; Lecture and Panelist, Welcome to the Apocalypse, Graphic Design Department, Central St Martins (UAL), London, UK; Artists Talk, Masterstudio Design, Academy of Art an Design FHNW, Basel, CH; Artist Talk, Design and the Courtroom, The Design Museum, London, UK; Artists Talk, Design Products Department, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Keynote, Image Culture Series, Museum of the Image, Breda, NL; Artists Talk, W12 Studios, London, UK; Lecture, Designing Deviance, Design Interactions, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Keynote Speaker, Resonate 2014 Belgrade New Media Festival, Belgrade, RS; Artists Talk, Visual Communications, Department, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Artists Talk, Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, UK; Lecture, Design Fiction and Extreme Scenarios, V2 Institute for Unstable Media, Rotterdam, NL; Artists Talk Industrial Design Department Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US; Discussion, Ilona Gaynor in conversation with Norman M. Klein, chaired by Glenn Adamson, Super Talks series, Tent, London Design Festival, UK; Lecture and Panelist, Beyond Design Activism,History of Design Dept, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Artists Talk, Design + Media, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US; Keynote Speaker, Emergence Conference, The Future and New Economic Models, University of Oxford, UK; Lecture, Under Black Carpets, MDP, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, US; Artists Talk, Department of Risk Science, University of Michigan, Anne Arbor, US; Lecture, Known Unknowns, Studio X, Department of Architecture, Columbia University, New York, US; Lecture, Crossover scenarios, playing in the fields of Big Society, Demos Think Tank, London, UK; Artists Talk, Department of Graphic Design, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK; Keynote Speaker, 4th Annual Click Conference, CreativeReview, Soho Theatre, London

Exhibitions
The Silent Claims of the Demon of Art, Curated: Alberto Ortega Trejo, Watershed Art & Ecology, Chicago, US; Open House, Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin County, California US ; InSomnolence, Curated: Alanna Thain and Aleksandra Kaminska, Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal, CA; Extraperlo, Curated: Jorge Penades, Madrid Design Festival, Madrid, SP; The Ascent (Radio Play Edition) VVFA RADIO, Curated: Sitraka Rakotoniaina and Andrew Friend London Design Festival, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Regimes of Prediction, Curated: Sabine Winkler, Galerie Weißer Elefant, Berlin, DE; Dark Oceans Curated: Jehra Patrick, Law Warschaw Gallery, Minneapolis, US Futureproof, Curated: Ingrid Burrington, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Haverford College, Pennsylvania, US; Is Technology Sexist? Desktop Exhibition, Curated: Matylda Krzykowski, FNHW Basel and Domus Academy; Curator and Exhibitor, Commissioned: Olivier Peyricot, Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne, FR; Minus 2 Degrees, Curated: Disegno, Aram Gallery, London, UK; Tektoniks, Curated:Filip Visnjic, ACT Festival, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, KR; Disruption, Curated: Pollyanna Clayton-Stamm, The Design Museum, London, UK; Solo Show, Forensic Ontologies and the Plot, Curated: Gabriella Arrigoni, FACT Liverpool, UK; Oxford Futures Forum, Curated : Lucy Kimbell, Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK; Artefact Festival, Curated: Hicham Khalidi, STUK, Leuven, Belgium; Solo Show, Paper Moon, Curated: Michelle Kasprzak, V2 Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, NL; Requiem for a Bank, Curated: Fabian Saavedra-Lara, HMKV,Dortmund, Germany, DE; Image, Building, Object: Exploring, Architecture and Design on Film, Curated: Theaster Gates, Black Cinema House, Chicago, US; Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Curated: Beatrice Galilee, Mude Gallery, Bank Vault, Lisbon, Portugal; Solo Show, Escape Ecologies (with Benedict Singleton), Curated: Andy Weir, Fine Art Department, Goldsmiths University; Artefacts from Earth TV Channel, Curated: Alex Crichton, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, FR; SHOW, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Solo Show, Goldman Sachs, New York; Glitch Fiction, Paris Design Week, Curated: Nelly Ben Hayoun, Citi de la Mode et du Design, Paris, FR; Demain c’est Aujourd’hui, Biennale Internationale du Design, Curated: Claire Fayolle, St-Etienne, FR; Anti Design Festival, Curated: Neville Brody, White Gallery, London, UK; Light, Late Series, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Reviews and Workshops
Thesis Critic, MA, Department of Fashion, RISD, RI; Thesis Critic, BArch, Department of Architecture, RISD, RI; Thesis Critic, Interdisciplinary Design (Objects) Parsons, The New School, New York; Thesis Critic, Counter-hegemonic Architecture, Design Studio 1 Vertical Geopolitics Lab, Department of Architecture University of Toronto, Daniels; Visiting Finals Critic, BArch Architecture and MScd Computational Design Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; Visiting Project Co-Leader, 4 weeks “What Legal Design Could Be: Towards An Expanded Practice of Inquiry, Critique, and Action”, Department of Law, Northeastern University, Boston, US; Co-Team Lead (Futures Project, MFA) 5 weeks with Ben Hooker and Tim Durfee, Media Design Practices (MDP), Arts Center College of Design, Pasadena, US; Thesis Critic, Industrial Design, (MFA) Pratt Institute, New York, US; Visiting Master Professor (3 Week Workshop) MA, Nonlinear Narrative; Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL; Visiting Critic, Critical Futures Lab, (MDes) Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago, US; Visiting Thesis Critic, Architecture, (MArch) Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US; ‘Hunting in Transcript’, Department of Digital + Media, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US; External Advisor, Industrial Design, (MFA) Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US; Project Term Critic, Fashion Womenswear, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Visiting Critic, BA Architecture, Objects and Spaces, Central St Martins, UAL, London, UK; Visiting Master and Thesis Advisor, Masterstudio Design, University of Applied Sciences and Arts – FNHW, Basel, CH; ‘Learning from Mr Orange, Mr White and Nice Guy Eddie’, 2015 ACT Festival, (ACC), Gwangju, KR; Guest Project Tutor, Architecture Unit (ADS4) Royal College of Art, London, UK; ‘Design Metis’ Masterstudio Design, University of Applied Sciences and Arts – FNHW, Basel, CH; ‘Constructing Evidence’ with Cher Potter, Close Closer, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Lisbon, PT; Examinations Juror, Media Design Practices ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, US; Guest Professor, Industrial Design “Futures Forum” Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå, SE; Guest Critic, Unit 14 (Interface Architecture) Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London, UK; ‘Prototyping the Future’ Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå, SE; Visiting Critic and Project Professor, F13 Architecture Studio, Princeton University, New Jersey, US; Visiting Critic and Tutor, Unit 6 (Unknown Fields) The Architectural Assocation, London, UK; Yearly visiting Critic and Jury, Unit 23, (Imagining the Real), Bartlett School of Architecture, London, UK; ‘Proof of Life’ Digital + Media, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, US

Texts
Essay, Good Night Seattle, 2023 Dirty Furniture Journal, Bed Edition, Pages 94–102, ISBN 9780993351150; Essay, Threads of Deviation, Fiction Edition, 2021 Perspecta Journal, No 54, Yale Architecture Journal, MIT Press, Pages 93–102, ISBN 9780262543811; Violence and the Collapsed Reality, Introductory Essay for Photographer Maya Meissner’s The Cedar Lodge, Zatara Press, Pages 3-8; Blade Runner 2049 (Review), Disegno Journal, Issue 17, Pages 166–169, ISBN 97720487770217; The Ascent (Stage Play–Book), Cite du design, St Etienne Biennale, 52 Pages; Our Attempts to Ascend. Escape Routes and Cosmic Trap-doors (Essay), Working Promise, Cite du Design, Pages 64–66, ISBN 9782912808714; Lock Her Up (Essay), Disegno Design Journal, Issue 14, Pages 100–101, ISBN 97720487770214; Star Wars, The Force Awakens (Review), Disegno Design Design Journal, Issue 10, Pages 185–188, ISBN 97720487770210; The Lexicography of an Abusive, but Divine Relationship with the World (novelette) Twelve Tomorrows, Science Fiction Anthology, MIT Press Edited by Technology Review and Bruce Sterling, Pages 47–61, EAN 9780262535601; What We Want is in that Room, Essay (with Benedict Singleton) Architectural Design (AD), Volume 227, Pages 48–53, ISBN: 9781118451854; “Chaos and Carpets” When Site Lost the Plot, Redactions series, Urbanomic Press, Robin Mackay(Editor), Pages 121–147, ISBN-13 978-0957529564

Bibliography
Interview with Olivier Peyricot for Après la Révolution Issue 6; Architecture Journal Paris, FR, ISBN:2678-3991; Disegno Issue.20, Critical Works, Funded Pages 23-24; Etapes Issue 241, Pages 100-104; Futureproof Catalogue, Edited by Ingrid Burrington, Haverford Press, Pages 3–6; Dark Ocean Catalogue, Law Warshaw Gallery, Pages 15–18; Disegno Design Journal, Issue.14, Pages 100–101; Working Promise Catalogue, Cite Du Design Publications, Pages 64–66; The Alpine Review, Issue 3, Permanence, Pages 52–56; Disegno, Issue.9 (Cover and feature) Front Cover and Pages, 72–73, 92–98; When Site Lost The Plot, Urbanomic Press, Volume 005, Pages 121–148; Disegno Design Journal, Issue 8, Pages 42–44; Disruption Catalogue; The Design Museum, London, Pages 19–30; Disegno Design Journal, Issue 6 Pages 32; Architectural Design Magazine (AD), High Definition: Zero Tolerance, Edited by Bob Sheil, Vol 227, Pages 48–53; Landscape with Bird Trap, Para Fiction Novel, Written by Oscar Gaynor. A detailed portraiture of Ilona Gaynor and ; The Department of No set over the course of one year, 48 Pages; Architectural Design Magazine (AD), Scarcity Issue, Edited by Jon Goodburn, Vol 227, Pages 32–33, WIRED Magazine UK, Pages 77–78; Biennale Internationale Design Saint Etienne Catalogue, Page 48