PhD Research Projects 2022 – Conference & Exhibition

Organisers: Sophie Read & Nina Vollenbroker

This interdisciplinary conference and exhibition explores the developing research of selected students completing two of the school’s world-renowned doctoral programmes: Architectural Design MPhil/PhD and Architectural and Urban History and Theory MPhil/PhD. This year, we also have contributions to the conference from doctoral students from the Architecture & Digital Theory and Architectural Space Computation programmes as well as from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit and The UCL Institute of Environmental Engineering & Design.

The exhibition will be open to the public within the school’s award-winning digital show environment, and the conference will be taking place on Zoom. Both are open to all, but registration for the conference is essential. 

Visitors to the exhibition can explore research that ranges from examining moss growth in cities, questioning processes of ‘homemaking’ in Iran through dowry lists, creating a living archive of Western Sierra Madre’s vernacular architecture, to proposing the communal kitchen as an infrastructure of care in the UK and China. 

The conference, running across two sessions on 22 and 24 February, aims to ignite and encourage discussions between students, staff, invited guests, critics and the public about research at The Bartlett. 

As part of the programme, there is also an International Lecture with speakers Federica Goffi, Mari Hvattum, Igor Marjanović and Eunice Seng on 22 February 2022 at 18:00. Read the full event listing.

Exhibition

18:00, 22 February – 18:00, 08 March 2022
Online 

Organised by Dr Sophie Read

The PhD Research Projects Exhibition features work from students researching Architectural Design and Architectural & Urban History & Theory at The Bartlett School of Architecture. 

The exhibition this year showcases projects encompassing history and theory, architectural design, biochemical engineering and other forms of practice-based research enquiry. Methods and media include animation, narrated manuscripts, drawing, performance lectures, site writing and photography.

Exhibiting students

• Atheer Al Mulla
• Olivier Bellflamme
• Jhono Bennett
• Olivia Duncan
• Alexandra Adelina Lăcătușu
• Xiuzheng Li
• Rebecca Loewen
• Katerina Zacharopoulou 
• Azadeh Zaferani

Visit the Show

Conference

14:00 – 18:30, 22 February and 14:00 – 18:30, 24 February 2021 
Online

Organised by Dr Nina Vollenbroker

This online conference is open to the public and features presentations by doctoral students,  Ifollowed by discussions of their questions, methods and findings. The panel of invited respondents includes Prof. Federica Goffi, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University; Dr Polly Gould, The Bartlett School of Architecture; Prof. Mari Hvattum, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design; Prof. Igor Marjanović, Rice Architecture; Prof. Niall McLaughlin, The Bartlett School of Architecture and Associate Prof. Eunice Seng, The University of Hong Kong.

Registration is essential to join this event. 

Presenting students 

• Atheer Al Mulla
• Olivier Bellflamme
• Jhono Bennett
• Olivia Duncan
• Mark Garcia
• Alexandra Adelina Lăcătușu
• Xiuzheng Li
• Rebecca Loewen
• Irene Manzini Ceinar
• Athina Petsou
• Rachel Valbrun
• Katerina Zacharopoulou
• Azadeh Zaferani

Schedule

Tuesday 22 February

14:00: Introduction

14:15: Alexandra Lăcătușu: Biocentric Design: Translating Environmentally Driven Behaviours of Urban Wall-Dwelling Mosses 
Athina Petsou: Rethinking Retrofit: Putting the People in the Centre
Session Chair: Roberto Bottazzi

15.15: Olivia Duncan: An Indigenous Model?
Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive Participatory Practices in Urban Development in UAE
Atheer Al Mulla: Liminal: The Curious Case of the Modern Emirati Hotel
Session Chair: Guang Yu Ren

16.15: Break

16:30: Rebecca Loewen: Duchamp’s Inframince and Spatial Practices of Contact
Katerina Zacharopoulou: Designing for Amusement: Expressions and Repressions of Humour in Postmodern Architectural Culture
Session Chair: Eva Branscome

17:30: Closing Comments / Discussion
18:00: Exhibition Opening

Thursday 24 February

14:00: Introduction

14:15: Irene Manzini Ceinar: Community-Centred Approaches to Foster Local Resilience: The Future of the Coworking Economy in Pandemic Recovery
Xiuzheng Li: The Communal Kitchen as An Infrastructure of Care: A Comparative Study between the UK and China 
Session Chair: Penelope Haralambidou

15:15: Azadeh Zaferani: Home [Un]Making: Objectified Interiors, Tehran 1963 - 2013
Olivier Bellflamme: An Architect in the Footsteps of Ethnographer Carl Lumholtz
Session Chair: Oliver Wilton

16:15: Break

16:30: Jhono Bennett: Locating Spatial Practice Within the Post-Post City: A Situated Southern Urban Design Inquiry Around How 
Rachel Valbrun: We Built this City: On Fault Lines and Quicksand
Session Chair: Robin Wilson

17:30: Closing Comments / Discussion

Register now

Image: Alexandra Lăcătușu, Micrograph of photosynthetic moss gametophytes.