I am a reader in architecture specialised in the study of everyday streets, their fabric, histories and experiences, through the StreetSpace project. I am especially interested in the way people experience the built environment, and how design can enable a more inclusive and just urban space.  I have worked in schools of architecture in Buenos Aires, Delft, Dublin and Belfast and collaborate with a range of government and non goverment organisations to explore ways in which housing, mixed use and mobility can provide better cities for all.

StreetSpace is a collaborative studio in the Masters of Architecture, funded by the Department for Communities and Civic engagement at QUB and supported by Belfast City Council. Each year we take on a street or neighbourhood in Belfast and spend a year engaging with local communities, studying the morphology and uses of the area and later proposing built interventions that will respond to the community's needs.

Apart from the StreetSpace studio, I supervise dissertation students and coordinate an interdisciplinary lecture series in third year.

For more information on the project go to:

www.streetspaceresearch.com

My research focuses on the analysis of mixed use streets through their  morphology, histories and experiences.

I lead the StreetSpace project, an international and interdisciplinary research project that studies the significance of local, mixed use, plot based streets, and their value as a stronghold of local culture. The project proposes an alternative pedagogical and methodological tool for understanding local mixed use streets. This workshop was carried out in Belfast (2015-16-17-18-19-21-22-23-24) , Buenos Aires (2012), Edinburgh (2012) , London (2017), Naples (2017) and Ljubljana (2018).  The project includes academics from architecture, planning, history, geography, anthropology, sound art, photography and psychology, through the lecture series, reading groups and workshops. In 2017 an international symposium and exhibition was a platform for discussing and exhibiting the work. This led to the MArch year long live projects in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22, 2023-24 and to workshops in Belfast, Naples, London, Ljubljana, Lisbon, Paris and Delft.

Most recently I am involved in two interdisciplinary research projects, Change Stories, a collaborative project coordinated by prof. Helen Pineo forom the University of Washington, which seeks to decolonise positive narratives of change in cities, and the Violence against women and girls project coordinated by prof. Ruth Hunter from Public Health at Queen's.

I have also spent the last 4 years involved in the Open BOtanic project that aims to pedestrianise Botanic Avenue in a participatory and inclusive model, with partners Forward South Partnership and a large series of community and charity partners.

As part of my research engagement and impact I am chair of the SaveCQ campaign, which advocates for equitable urban development in Belfast; I have an advisory role in Participation and the Practice of Rights, which campaigns for homes for homeless and refugees; and I am part of the team that delivered the Ormeau Parklet, a temporary urban intervention to expand a pavement and provide space for social distancing and socialising.

Since my appointment at Queen's I have carried out a series of different research activities, including writing in international peer reviewed journals such as Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, the International Journal of ICOMOS, Springer's Urban Landscape Perspectives and Spaces and Flows; and the Irish Journal of Anthropology. I have participated in international conferences and been invited to give lectures and coordinate workshops in different academic institutions such as TUDelft, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Catolica de Chile, Universita Federico II in Naples and Gothenburg University, among others.

I am also involved in a series of networks of Architecture, Urban History and Urban Morphology, such as urban inventories with University of Montreal; Gateways and Hinterlands with Tokyo International University,  Universita Ca Foscari Venice and Brussels University; the All Ireland Architectural Research Group; and locally PLACE, RSUA, Women in Architecture NI and the UAH.

RIBA Part 1

ARC3024 – History and Theory of Architecture III -  module coordinator

RIBA Part 2 - Programme Coordinator

ARC7017 – Architectural Research: Humanities dissertation – Supervisor

MArch Unit leader - StreetSpace Studio

ARC7022 – MArch I studio I - Coordinator

ARC7024 - MArch I studio 3 - Coordinator

ARC7023 - MArch II studio 2 - tutor

ARC7025 - MArch II studio 3 - tutor

ARC7021 - Thesis Research - tutor

Since my appointment at Queen's I have been involved in most levels of undergraduate and postgraduate education.  This includes architecture studio, history and theory, and the coordination of collaborative projects with RIBA, Department for Communities and Belfast City Council.

I coordinate History and Theory III since 2010, which included redesigning the module to introduce concepts of urban design and urban history, focusing on the relationship between architecture and the city. A series of innovations were introduced to the course, including reading sessions, peer review and a one minute presentations. The innovations in this module deserved the short listing for an Innovation in teaching prize with the history and theory team. An article based on our work has been published in The International Journal of Art & Design Education. More recently the module includes the lectures of 9 scholars from other disciplines, who introduce the complexity of cities to architecture stduents.

With a team of colleagues, I have developed writing in the school of architecture in undergrad and postgrad. I also included a new series of presentations by staff from different disciplines, organise reading seminars with PhD students and coordinate peer review sessions to enhance the modules and to create links between theory and practice in postgraduate architecture.

Earlier Career

Earlier Grants and Awards