Architecture

The research carried out by the Department of Architecture distinguishes itself by the focus on architecture as an expanded cultural field of expertise; a discursive field in which making and thinking, design and research, history and theory are inextricably, yet complexly, linked. The research program addresses contemporary architectural production as a projective moment in which cultural, social, functional, philosophical, economic and ecological factors are articulated as a concrete spatial and material configuration.

The program consists of 10 research lines, each of which is formulated as an agenda for architecture. Each of these research agendas instigate a certain meticulosity in terms of position, methodologies, relevancy and sense of urgency in relation to the current state of affairs in contemporary architecture. The structure of the research program departs from a particular idea of architectural expertise, acknowledging that architecture, as a cultural field of action and reflection, is multilayered, entailing many discursive relations to other disciplinary fields while simultaneously addressing societal and scientific questions.

The 10 research lines of the Department of Architecture are: Architectural Pedagogies; Architecture and the City; Architecture, Culture and Modernity; Borders & Territories; Design Research; Digital Culture; Ecologies of Architecture; Global Housing; History; Situated Architecture.

Dr. Janina Gosseye

Theories of Architecture Fellowship Program

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PhD research

Architecture and the City

Architecture and the City considers the notion of public realm as a lens to look at the (trans)formation of built forms and explicitly includes the changing socio-cultural dynamics of public institutions along with the development and transformation of physical public infrastructures over time.

Borders & Territories

Borders & Territories explores the concept of the border and the impact of cross-border exchange on architectural, urban and territorial entities; past, present and future, studying the role of infrastructure, networks and migratory movements on the transforming territory.

Situated Architecture

Situated Architecture takes the notion of situated experience as a common ground between academia and practice; as a topic to explore both conceptually and through material and building practice.

Architecture, Culture and Modernity

Architecture, Culture and Modernity focuses on the multiple ways architecture absorbs and reflects the conditions of modernity, including the rise of a mass society, new forms of (democratic) government systems, and concomitant issues of subject-formation, emancipation and citizens' empowerment.

Global Housing

The aim of Global Housing is to promote more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient urban communities through projects that analyse, evaluate, and develop knowledge on housing design combining situated approaches with a global perspective.

Digital Culture

Theory of Architecture and Digital Culture critically explores the technological conditions under which architecture in the age of global digital infrastructures emerges, from small to large scale, and from everyday practice to society as a whole.

Ecologies of Architecture

Ecologies of Architecture stems from the mutual determination of technicity (reciprocity of subjects and their built surroundings) and affect (response-ability) driven by a discerning attitude to hylomorphism.

History of Architecture and Urban Planning

History of Architecture and Urban Planning explores architectural and urban forms, functions and meanings from long-term, multi-scalar, and multidisciplinary perspectives combining diverse methods of historical and historiographical analysis to understand the construction of the past and its role in the formation of the present.

Architectural Pedagogies

Architectural Pedagogies collaborates with studio (research) mentors across the department, to reflect on the education, and to bring the results of the bachelor and master studios to the stage of critical discussion.