PhD Research Projects 2025 – Conference and Exhibition

About

The nineteenth annual PhD conference and exhibition is an interdisciplinary exploration of the developing research of doctoral students at The Bartlett School of Architecture. This year, for the first time, the event will feature contributions from students across all five doctoral streams: Architectural Design, Architectural & Urban History & Theory,  Architectural Space & Computation, Architecture & Digital Theory and Architectural Practice. 

All are welcome to the full-day conference held at The Bartlett School of Architecture on 25 February and the accompanying exhibition that showcases doctoral research in development or concluding phases. The events aim to ignite and encourage discussions between students, staff, invited guests, critics and the public about research at The Bartlett School of Architecture. 

In addition, PhD Research Projects 2025 will join the CRUNCH series with a lecture by Professor Claire Zimmerman (University of Toronto), followed by a conversation with Bartlett PhD students Rían Kearney, Merve Okkali Alsavada, Daniel Ovalle Costal and Elly Selby on 24 February 2025 at 18:30. 

Visit the exhibition in person at the school's Bloomsbury campus, 22 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0QB. 

Explore the PhD Research Project Catalogue 2025 to find out more about each students work. 

Presenting and exhibiting students: 

• Isabelle Donetch
• Alberto Fernández González
• Abdulkadir Kacan
• Melih Kamaoğlu
• Phamvu Linh
• Adarsh Lanka
• Te-Chen Lu
• Mengdi Mao
• Merve Okkali Alsavada
• Daniel Ovalle Costal
• Feysa Poetry
• Elly Selby
• Ben Spong
• Eric Wong

Conference

09:00 – 18:00, 25 February
Room 6.02, 22 Gordon Street

Organised by Dr Stylianos (Stelios) Giamarelos 

Register Interest to Attend

This conference is open to the public and features presentations by doctoral students, followed by discussions of their questions, methods and findings. The panel of invited respondents includes: Professor Claire Zimmerman (University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty), Professor Hugh Campbell (University College Dublin), Professor Arunava Dasgupta (School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi), Dr Amy Thomas (Delft University of Technology), Dr Michael Weinstock (Architectural Association) and Dr Filipa Matos Wunderlich (The Bartlett School of Planning). 

Timetable

09:00 - Introduction

Session 1: Chaired by Professor Barbara Penner

09:15 - Imbunching the Mapocho: Neoliberalism, Repression and the Monstrous in Santiago, Isabelle Donetch 

09:30 - Building Imaginary Worlds in Environments of the Virtual: The Architect as World-Builder, Eric Wong

09:45 - Discussion 

Session 2: Chaired by Professor Peg Rawes

10:15 - Revolutionising Architectural Production: Origins and Effects of Technical and Vocational Education in 19th-Century Bombay Presidency, Adarsh Lanka 

10:30 - Dismantling the Mistress’s House: Notes on Community Co-production Using the ‘House Museum’ as a Tool, Feysa Poetry

10:45 - Discussion

11:15 - Coffee Break

Session 3: Chaired by Professor Tim Waterman 

11:30 - (Re)Writing Contemporary Indigenous Architectural History through the Process of Co-Creating a Paiwan Slate House of Southern Taiwan, Te-Chen Lu

11:45 - Designing a Queer Domestic Canon, Daniel Ovalle Costal

12:00 - Discussion

Session 4: Chaired by Professor Penelope Haralambidou 

12:30 - Stereotomic Design: Integrating Spolia into Contemporary Stone Structures through Topological Interlocking Assemblies, Mengdi Mao 

12:45 - Strange Interlocutors: Fabrication(s) as a Mediator in Architectural Production, Ben Spong

13:00 - Discussion 

13:30 - Lunch Break 

Session 5: Chaired by Dr Claudia Pasquero 

15:00 - Relational Authorship and the Renewed Cultural Practice of Interpretation, Elly Selby 

15:15 - The Idea of Evolution in Digital Architecture: A Critique of Bio-Digital Design, Melih Kamaoğlu

15:30 - Discussion

Session 6: Chaired by Professor Alan Penn

16:00 - TERMARCH: Generation and Analysis of Communal Environments for Human Interaction Inspired by Termites, Abdulkadir Kacan

16:15 - Cellular Architecture: From Discrete Grids to High-Resolution Space, Alberto Fernández González

16:30 - Discussion

Session 7: Chaired by Professor Kayvan Karimi

17:00 - The Spatial Culture of Hém in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: A Spatial-Morphological Analysis of Urban Interiority, Phamvu Linh 

17:15 - An Investigation of the Spatial and Socio-economic Impacts of Waterways on the Transformation of Cities: Cases from the UK and the Netherlands, Merve Okkali Alsavada 

17:30 - Discussion

18:00 - Drink reception and exhibition opening, Ground Floor Galleries 

Exhibition

09:30 – 19:00, 25 February – 11 March

10:00 - 17:00 at weekends 
Ground floor galleries, 22 Gordon Street

Curated by Dr Stamatis Zografos and Alberto Fernández González

Presenting students will also exhibit their work across the ground floor exhibition space at the school's Bloomsbury campus. The exhibition showcases projects encompassing history and theory, architectural design, digital methodologies and other forms of practice-based research enquiry. Methods and media include drawing, physical models, video, photography, games and performance. 

Visit in person at the school's Bloomsbury campus, 22 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0QB. 

Exhibition Opening Reception

18:00 – 20:00, Tuesday 25 February 
Ground floor galleries, 22 Gordon Street

The school celebrates the opening of the exhibition with a drinks reception in the ground floor exhibition space at the school's Bloomsbury campus. It's an opportunity to explore the work from this year's exhibition in person, while enjoying a drink with exhibiting students, staff and invited guests following the close of the conference. 

Gathering through Gathering

19:15 – 20:15, Tuesday 04 March
Room G.03, 22 Gordon Street

As part of the exhibition, this performance brings together eight dinner guests to mimic a communal dinner originally held at Nyah Lasem, a community-based museum in Java’s port town of Lasem. Recipes passed down through generations will be interpreted, reimagined and served to the dinner guests and audience.

Access

All our event spaces are accessible. For any additional support or information, please email or call 020 3108 7337.

More information

• Find out more about doctoral studies at The Bartlett School of Architecture

Image: Imbunche 1: Bodies discarded in the Mapocho River in Santiago de Chile (Author: Isabelle Donetch, 2024)