Professor Haim Yacobi recognised by Brandeis University

Professor Haim Yacobi has been selected as the 2026 Distinguished Richard Saivetz ’69 Lecture in Architecture at the Department of Fine Arts at Brandeis University, underscoring his international recognition as a leading voice on the politics of the built environment. This annual lecture series honours figures whose work reshapes understandings of architecture, urbanism, and spatial justice worldwide.

The Richard Saivetz ’69 Architectural Lecture is a prestigious annual event established in memory of Brandeis alumnus Richard Saivetz, celebrating critical inquiry into how architecture shapes contemporary life.​ Hosted by the Department of Fine Arts (often in collaboration with Brandeis arts institutions), the series has featured architects, artists, and scholars whose work probes the relationship between space, power, and social histories.

Prof Haim Yacobi is a Professor of Development Planning at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London, known for his work on Jerusalem, settler colonialism, and the geopolitics of urban space.​ His research spans critical geography, architecture, and planning, focusing on how policies, infrastructures, and design practices reproduce inequality in contested and divided cities.

His lecture “Architecture, Everyday Life and the Urban Geopolitics of Jerusalem” will explore how planning, architecture, and urban design shape Jerusalem’s imagined colonial geographies beyond military occupation and exclusionary policy. Situating Jerusalem within a broader geopolitical framework, the talk examines how architecture operates as a form of control in settler societies. Drawing on archival research, interviews, and fieldwork, Haim Yacobi discusses how power, protest, and spatial counter-products intersect in the production of urban space and the politics of the built environment.