Janet McGaw is a Lecturer in Architectural Design in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne.  She has a PhD by Creative Works currently under examination that she completed at the University of Melbourne.  The creative project that is included in this exhibition, "Urban Threads" is the subject of her doctorate.  Her research work, teaching and creative practice continue to investigate the 'tactics' (Michel de Certeau's terminology) through which marginal players can 'make (or take) place' in the urban realm.   Janet uses methods that are discursive, collaborative and sometimes ephemeral to create 'critical spatial practices in the place between art and architecture' (Jane Rendell's definition).  Publications include 'Urban Threads' in the Journal of Architectural Education Special Issue on Installations by Architects, 'Trajectory of the Junks', in Transportable Environments 3 and 'Architectural (S)crypts: In Search of a Minor Architecture' in Architectural Theory Review.  Other creative works include 'The Flâneur', an urban installation included in the Faites de le Lumière in Melbourne in 2003 and 'bigger than a black hole and only 20cm wide' in the Royal Australian Institute of Architects exhibition Small in 2000.  Janet maintains a small private practice that specializes in domestic work.  Her 'Warehouse Conversion in Ascot Vale' won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects award for best alterations and extensions in 2006.