Fiji: Loata Ho
Born in Savusavu, Fiji, Loata Ho is an Indigenous woman. She holds a bachelor’s in architecture from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia (2008), and is working on a post-graduate certificate in Crisis, Emergency, Disaster Management at the same institution (2021–). She also holds a certificate in Bible and Mission from the Sydney Missionary Bible College in Sydney, Australia (2024). Ho founded the Womens Development Research practice Women Build Australia, a research-led architectural design practice based in Sydney (2019–), and is currently a part-time associate missionary with Power to Change at the University of Sydney. She is an ambassador for Architects Without Frontiers, where she previously worked as an in-country project coordinator (2015), and as an architectural designer and cultural advisor (2016–2018). Ho served as a judge for the Dezeen Awards (2023), and collaborated in the AWF Fiji project “I tatadra” Cakaudrove Women’s Resource Centre, which was shortlisted for the ArchitectureAu Award for Social Impact (2024) and received an Australian Good Design Award (2020).
References
“The Architecture Symposium, Brisbane.” Design Speaks. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://designspeaks.com.au/events/2023/06/09/the-architecture-symposium-brisbane-2023.
“Fijian Architect Loata Ho Discusses Breaking Barriers While Building Walls.” ABC Pacific, October 23, 2022.
Green, Jonathan. “‘What Does She Do?’ — Defining the Role of the Architect in Fiji.” ABC listen, December 9, 2022. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/blueprintforliving/loata-ho-fiji-architecture-cakaudrove/101753908.
Harriss, Harriet, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder, and Tom Ravenscroft. 100 Women: Architects in Practice. London: RIBA Publishing, 2023. doi:10.4324/9781032649580.
Ho, Loata and Healy, Emma, “Vanua: Solesolevaki Nurturing Communities through Revitalisation of Collective Building Culture.” Swayn Open Research, 2022.
Ho, Laota. “Memories of Past Challenges.” Parlour, June 22, 2020. https://parlour.org.au/series/home-work/memories-of-past-challenges/.
Ho, Loata, Emma Healy, Lucia Wellington, and Leeanne Marshall. “Design for Fragility + Justice.” In Design for Fragility, 1st ed., 181–89. Routledge, 2023. doi:10.4324/9781003097037-29.
“Laota Debra Ho | 2023 Judges.” Dezeen Awards. Accessed June 12, 2024. https://www.dezeen.com/awards/2023/judges/laota-debra-ho/.
Lazaroo, Suzanne. “From Canberra to the World: Meaningful Change Stems from a Solid Foundation of Understanding: Research Across the Globe.” Uncover Magazine, 2019. www.canberra.edu.au/uncover/magazine.
“Shortlist revealed: 2024 ArchitectureAu Award for Social Impact” ArchitectureAu, May 16, 2024. https://architectureau.com/articles/shortlist-revealed-2024-architectureau-award-for-social-impact/.
Ho, Loata, and Emma Healy of Women Build. “Vanua : Solesolevaki: Nurturing Communities through Revitalisation of Collective Building Culture.” The Alastair Swayn Foundation. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://alastairswaynfoundation.org/research/vanua.
Women Building Australia. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.womenbuildingaustralia.com.au/.
