Valentina (Val) Volpi

I am a migrant, a feminist, an architect, and currently a doctoral researcher at the School of Design and Creative Arts (Loughborough University) and Institute of Design Innovation (Loughborough University London). I am honoured to be part of H.O.M.E. - Harnessing Opportunities for Meaningful Environments, a transdisciplinary centre for doctoral training combining approaches from design, creative arts, innovation, urban planning, disaster risk management, and architecture to reframe homelessness (and homelessness research).

I earned a master’s degree in architecture (University of Ferrara) in 2015, focusing on participatory and art-based urban design processes. Deepening on how cultural artistic identities shape housing, in 2017, I moved to London and got a master’s in fine and decorative arts and design (Sotheby’s Institute, University of Manchester) by comparing English and Italian gendered interiors and vernacular objects. I also got licensed in Italy as both an Architect and Civil Engineer, but after (or because of) working for prestigious art galleries and interior design studios in London, my interests shifted toward political activism, and now I am trying to bring a unique blend of urban theory, artistic exploration, and a zest for grassroots activism to my academic journey.

My PhD project, “Playing with the trouble: anarchafeminist game-praxis into, through and for Design for Social Innovation in the context of London Housing Precarity,” explores how Design for Social Innovation (DSI) intersects with gendered resistance in the context of East London's housing precarity. Moving beyond the victimising narratives often associated with precarious living conditions, my work focuses on disrupting normative housing research and stigmas by co-designing cooperative board games with activists and squatters. The aim of my project is twofold: to reframe the narrative around housing precarity by highlighting the creative resistance and direct agency of “vulnerable” communities and to mobilize the political power of humour and game uncertainty.

Guiding me through my academic adventures are Dr Val Mitchell and Dr Stuart Cockbill from the School of Design and Creative Arts, along with Dr Ksenija Kuzmina from the Institute of Design Innovation at Loughborough University London.

• Loughborough University Fully-Funded Studentship 2021-2024
• Loughborough University Doctoral Researcher Support Fund (DRSF) November 2023-2024
• Loughborough University Summer Showcase: Runner-up prize for Local Community Award

• Volpi, V., Mitchell, V., Cockbill, S., and Kuzmina, K. (2024) The road to cooptation is paved with good intentions: an anarchafeminist critique of empowerment ambiguity in DSI, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA.
• Valentina Volpi, Val Mitchell, Stuart Cockbill, and Ksenija Kuzmina. 2024. PD as in Prefigurative Design: A ludic framework beyond participation. In Participatory Design Conference 2024 (PDC ’24 Vol. 2), August 11–16, 2024, Sibu, Malaysia. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 9 pages. 

My interests are diverse, yet I find them deeply interconnected. I campaign, support, and get incredibly inspired by FocusE15, and my work in radical housing, commoning, and design activism is also deeply intertwined with utopianism and radical imagination. Integral to my analysis and personal ethics are feminist theory and praxis, which I academically employ to (self)scrutinise the influence of gender, critique, and reflexivity in design, social innovation, and academia. Ludology, the study of games and play not just as entertainment but as complex cultural artefacts that reflect and influence social dynamics, forms a key part of my academic and activist exploration. Additionally, I have a background as a freehand and digital illustrator, and I feel that my passion for drawing adds an important visual dimension to my study.

Connect with me! Twitter/X: @ValentinaVolpi