RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University

Page created by Gary Campbell
 
CONTINUE READING
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
2021
RESEARCH
ANNUAL
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
Contents
Academic staff project index                               1    Hygrothermal Monitoring of Timber-Frame
                                                                Replacement Infill Panels                                    25
Research staff project index                               2    INDAIRPOLLNET (INDoor AIR POLLution NETwork)                 26
                                                                Low Carbon Built Environment (LCBE) SPECIFIC 2               27
Introduction to WSA research                               3
                                                                Low Carbon Built Environment New Build
Research and Scholarship Groups                            4    Home Performance Evaluation                                  28
• Computational Methods in Architecture                         Managing the Brief for Better Design                         29
• Design, Practice, Materials and Making                        Negotiating Livelihoods and Rights
• Energy, Environments and People                               in Contested Urban Space                                     30
• Heritage and Conservation                                     Occupants in the Building Design
• History and Theory                                            Decision-Making Process                                      31
• Urbanism                                                      PLUG-N-HARVEST                                               32
                                                                Practicing Engagement                                        33
Projects                                                        Regenerative Design and Modelling in
The 2013-2017 Restoration of the Oratory                        Environments with Extreme Conditions                         34
of the Partal Palace                                       5    Shelf-Life                                                   35
BECAMI Belle Epoque Cairo Museums Itineraries              6    Social and Spatial Form                                      36
Care and the City                                          7    Social Housing Research on Energy from
The Central Role of Architectural Precedent                     Welsh Data (SHREWD)                                          37
in Sustainable Architectural Design                        8    South Wales Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality                   38
CircuBED                                                   9    Systemic Approach to Architectural Performance               39
Constructing the Urban Imaginary                           10   Tamil Temple Towns                                           40
The Contested Urban Experience of Post-War West-Berlin     11   Topologic                                                    41
Co-Performative Bio-Climatic Layers of Built Environment   12   University Spaces Fit for the Fourth Industrial Revolution   42
Decision-Making in Emergency Management                         Urban Food Growing                                           43
and Post-Disaster Recovery                                 13
                                                                Urbanising Suburbia                                          44
Decision-Making in Regenerative Design and Development 14
                                                                Use of Storage and Renewable Electricity Generation
Developing Optimal Domestic Low Carbon Ventilation              to Reduce Domestic and Transport Carbon Emissions            45
Technologies to Improve Air Quality and Reduce Health
Risks from Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollutions               15
Eco-Hammam                                                 16
                                                                Welsh School of Architecture Research
                                                                Centres and Consultancies                                    46
Embodied Pedagogies                                        17
                                                                • Design Research Unit Wales (DRUw)
Energy Revolution Research Consortium                      18
                                                                • Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) & ESRI
Exploring how Sources, Behaviour and Mitigation
Strategies Influence Indoor Air Quality                    19   • Practice, Research and Advancement
                                                                   in South Asian Design and
Euro-Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology (EMUVE)             20
                                                                • Architecture (PRASADA)
Forms of Informal Urbanism                                 21
                                                                • Centre for Sustainable Design of the
The Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods              22
                                                                   Built Environment (SuDoBE)
Harbourview                                                23
Homes of Today for Tomorrow                                24   Postgraduate research                                        47
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
Academic staff project index

Wesley Aelbrecht:                                             Mhairi McVicar:
Constructing the Urban Imaginary                              Practicing Engagement
Clarice Bleil de Souza:                                       Dimitra Ntzani:
Decision-Making in Emergency Management and                   Embodied Pedagogies
Post-Disaster Recovery;
                                                              Hiral Patel:
Decision-Making in Regenerative Design and Development;       Managing the Brief for Better Design;
Occupants in the Building Design Decision-Making Process;     University Spaces Fit for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Regenerative Design and Modelling in Environments with
Extreme Conditions                                            Joanne Patterson:
                                                              Energy Revolution Research Consortium;
Laura Bowie:                                                  Homes of Today for Tomorrow;
The Contested Urban Experience of Post-War West-Berlin
                                                              Low Carbon Built Environment – New Build Home
Marie Davidova:                                               Performance Evaluation;
Co-Performative Bio-Climatic Layers of Built Environment;     Low Carbon Built Environment (LCBE) SPECIFIC 2
Systemic Approach to Architectural Performance
                                                              Nastaran Peimani::
Juliet Davis:                                                 Forms of Informal Urbanism;
Care and the City;                                            The Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods;
Urbanising Suburbia                                           Negotiating Livelihoods and Rights in Contested
                                                              Urban Space
Hu Du:
Developing Optimal Domestic Low Carbon Ventilation            Oriel Prizeman:
Technologies to Improve Air Quality and Reduce Health Risks   Harbourview;
from Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollutions;                       Hygrothermal Monitoring of Timber-Frame
PLUG-N-HARVEST                                                Replacement Infill Panels;
                                                              Shelf-Life;
Ed Green:
Homes of Today for Tomorrow                                   Tamil Temple Towns

Julie Gwilliam:                                               Magda Sibley:
The Central Role of Architectural Precedent                   BECAMI Belle Epoque Cairo Museums Itineraries;
in Sustainable Architectural Design                           Eco-Hammam

Adam Hardy:                                                   Vicki Stevenson:
Tamil Temple Towns                                            Exploring how Sources, Behaviour and Mitigation
                                                              Strategies Influence Indoor Air Quality;
Wassim Jabi:
                                                              South Wales Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality;
Topologic
                                                              Urban Food Growing;
Phil Jones:                                                   Use of Storage and Renewable Electricity Generation
Developing Optimal Domestic Low Carbon                        to Reduce Domestic and Transport Carbon Emissions
Ventilation Technologies;
                                                              Christopher Tweed:
Low Carbon Built Environment (LCBE) SPECIFIC 2;
                                                              CircuBED;
PLUG-N-HARVEST
                                                              Eco-Hammam;
Tahl Kaminer:                                                 Social Housing Research on Energy from Welsh
Social and Spatial Forms;                                     Data (SHREWD);
Urbanising Suburbia                                           University Spaces Fit for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Simon Lannon:                                                 Chris Whitman:
Homes of Today for Tomorrow;                                  Hygrothermal Monitoring of Timber-Frame
Social Housing Research on Energy from                        Replacement Infill Panels
Welsh Data (SHREWD);
                                                              Federico Wulff:
Topologic
                                                              Euro-Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology (EMUVE);
Marianna Marchesi:                                            The 2013-2017 Restoration of the Oratory of
CircuBED                                                      the Partal Palace
                                                              Gabriela Zapata-Lancaster:
                                                              INDAIRPOLLNET (INDoor AIR POLLution NETwork)

1   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
Reseach staff project index

Mahdi Boughanmi:
Shelf life

Richard Hoggett:
EnergyREV

Puxi Huang:
PLUG N HARVEST

Miltos Ionas:
Low Carbon Built Environment New Build
Home Performance Evaluation

Mariangela Parisi:
Shelf life

Emmanouil Perisoglou:
Low Carbon Built Environment New Build
Home Performance Evaluation

Camilla Pezzica:
Eco-Hammam; Shelf life

Marianne Solomon Popa:
EnergyREV

Esther Tallent:
EnergyREV

2   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
Introduction to the
Welsh School of
Architecture Research

The Welsh School of Architecture                   Our research is currently organised     WSA’s research is translated to external
(WSA) is one of seven schools in the               in six Research and Scholarship         organisations primarily through
College of Physical Sciences and                   Groups (RSGs), which bring together     collaborative research centres and
Engineering and has 57 academic                    staff and postgraduate research         consultancies and a key University
staff members (summer 2020).                       (PGR) students, recognising the         research institute: Design Research Unit
Our ethos of ‘grounded creativity’                 essential contribution they all make    Wales (DRUw) engages in architectural
shapes our collaborative, diverse                  to generating knowledge, stimulating    design projects that address key topics
research and supports dialogue with                debate and creating impact. The         in contemporary architectural design,
communities of practice. The School                groups sustain and support the          including low carbon design, landscape
has a strong relationship with the                 WSA’s research culture, mentor and      and placemaking; Practice, Research
Welsh Government, underpinned                      nurture early career researchers and    and Advancement in South Asian Design
by a long-standing reputation for                  PGRs, organise research events, run     and Architecture (PRASADA) focuses
sustainability research and impact-                internal grant peer-review processes    on historical traditions of the Indian
delivering projects.                               and joint applications. Our groups      subcontinent; Centre for Sustainable
                                                   are Computational Methods in            Design of the Built Environment
                                                   Architecture; Design, Practice,         (SuDoBE) specialises in research
                                                   Materials and Making; Energy,           concerning sustainability, people and the
                                                   Environments and People; Heritage       built environment. We are also invested
                                                   and Conservation; History and Theory,   in Cardiff University’s Energy Systems
                                                   and Urbanism.                           Research Institute, a successor to our
                                                                                           Low Carbon Research Institute, and a
                                                                                           leader in research into low-cardon and
                                                                                           energy in the built environment.
                                                                                           This research annual samples long-term
                                                                                           research projects that are taking place in
                                                                                           2021 at WSA. Some are ongoing, some
                                                                                           have concluded this year, while others
                                                                                           have only launched recently. While the
                                                                                           annual is neither comprehensive nor
                                                                                           exhaustive, it nevertheless provides an
                                                                                           overview of the very diverse research
                                                                                           taking place at WSA, spanning a vast
                                                                                           territory of expertise, of geographies,
                                                                                           and of project types.

3   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
Research and Scholarship Groups

Energy, Environment and People                     History and Theory                             The Heritage and Conservation research
The Energy, Environment and People                 The epicentre of humanities research at        group builds from its members’
Research and Scholarship Group aim                 the Welsh School of Architecture.              established expertise in practice,
to improve sustainability and the quality                                                         research and advocacy both nationally
                                                   With architectural history and theory as
of life for people through improving the                                                          and internationally. These skills include
                                                   our point of departure, our work engages
built environment across all scales from                                                          specialist architectural conservation in
                                                   cultural and visual studies, urban history,
components to buildings, neighbourhoods                                                           theory and practice, energy and condition
                                                   aesthetics, cognitive linguistics, and
to regions and at a national level.                                                               monitoring and measurement, digital
                                                   social and political theory. The group’s
Research provides evidence from design                                                            documentation and augmented reality
                                                   strength is its scholarly research, broad
and planning through to implementation                                                            underpinned by architectural history and
                                                   expertise, critical perspective and urban
and performance evaluation and                                                                    theory, heritage-led urban regeneration,
                                                   focus. Our key research topics include:
demolition to initiate long term                                                                  and energy transition in heritage contexts.
                                                   the history of Chicago; the use of visual
improvements.                                                                                     Its research findings extend its remit into
                                                   images in urban development; the urban
Group lead: Joanne Patterson                                                                      both policy and practice at both a national
                                                   spectacle; the symbolic; contracting;
                                                                                                  and international level, in an area closely
                                                   architectural agency; the relation of
                                                                                                  aligned to Sustainable Development
                                                   spatial to social form.
Design, Practice, Materials                                                                       Goal 11.
                                                   We are all involved in international
and Making                                                                                        Group lead: Oriel Prizeman, Magda Sibley
                                                   networks and contribute to sustaining our
Members of the Design, Practice,
                                                   field through reviews of papers for journals
Materials and Making (DPMM) research
                                                   and manuscripts for publishers.                Computational Methods
group engage in traditional, practice-
based and practice-led research, with              Group lead: Tahl Kaminer                       in Architecture
a collective focus on design, practice,                                                           Enhancing architectural design through
materials and making.                                                                             the use of innovative computational
                                                   Heritage and Conservation                      methods.
Group members seek to understand                   Seeking to forge bridges between the
material and making cultures, affect                                                              This group researches innovative
                                                   critical philosophical and technical
processes and products in industry and                                                            computational methods for use in
                                                   challenges of contemporary building
practice, and explore the intersection of                                                         the creative and design industries. In
                                                   conservation, our group addresses the
academic and professional domains. The                                                            particular, we look at form-finding using
                                                   future role of cultural heritage as
group supports original, rigorous research                                                        parametric and generative methods,
                                                   a inclusive cultural resource that drives
through collaboration and knowledge                                                               preparing digital information for further
                                                   sustainable development through
sharing, and connects research within the                                                         rigorous analysis, and integrating the logic
                                                   a principle of “do no harm.”
school to relevant activities outside.                                                            of digital fabrication into the early stages
                                                   Our key areas of expertise are:                of design.
Research areas include: conducting                 sustainable building conservation;
design-based research projects; reflection                                                        Group lead: Wassim Jabi
                                                   vernacular architecture heritage
on (and evaluation of) built projects;             valorisation and digital documentation;
research with a focus on material                  heritage-led urban regeneration;
performance and properties; development                                                           Urbanism
                                                   heritage design management and public          The Urbanism Group undertakes
and evaluation of construction techniques;         engagement; energy use in historic
research with a focus on making or                                                                leading-edge and collaborative research
                                                   buildings; energy transitions                  on theories and practices for transforming
prototyping; practice-based research.              in heritage buildings.                         cities.
Group leads: Ed Green, Steve Coombs
                                                                                                  The Urbanism Group is a relatively young
                                                                                                  and dynamic group in the Welsh School of
                                                                                                  Architecture which brings together diverse
                                                                                                  academics, researchers and doctoral
                                                                                                  students to share our work, to exchange
                                                                                                  different ideas, and to collaborate on
                                                                                                  research that moves the field in new and
                                                                                                  exciting directions.
                                                                                                  The group is primarily a forum for
                                                                                                  intellectual exchange and collaborative
                                                                                                  projects on various aspects of urbanism
                                                                                                  as an interdisciplinary, critical and
                                                                                                  engaged field of design.
                                                                                                  Group lead: Aseem Inam

4   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
WSA LEAD:          Federico Wulff Barreiro
                                                                                                  WITH:	Melina Guirnaldos (Co-I),
                                                                                                         Lui Tam (RA)
                                                                                                           The Council of the
                                                                                                  FUNDING:	
                                                                                                           Alhambra (Spain),
                                                                                                           World Monuments Fund
                                                                                                           (WMF), Europa Nostra-
                                                                                                           European Commission
                                                                                                  YEAR:              2017-

The 2013-2017 Restoration of the Oratory of
the Partal Palace, a Fourteenth-Century Palatine
Mosque in the Alhambra.

Research outcomes of the latest restoration of the Oratory
of the Partal Palace (2013-2017), Alhambra (Spain). Grand
Prix Europa Nostra 2019. Innovative Nasrid carpentry
techniques and new construction dating.

This research focuses on the                       The dendrochronology tests of the          Publications:
innovative outcomes of the latest                  original decorated timber framework        Federico Wulff, ‘The Restoration of
restoration of the Oratory of the                  covering the main praying space            the Oratory ofthe Partal Palace in the
                                                                                              Alhambra of Granada, Grand Prix
Partal Palace (2013-2017),                         consistently dated its timber              Europa Nostra 2019’, Built Heritage
authored by Dr Federico Wulff.                     elements as been cut during the            6: 3 (Springer Nature, 2021)
The Oratory of the Partal Palace is                Autumn/Winter of 1332-1333. This           https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238
                                                   would prove that the Oratory had           -021-00026-w
a unique fourteenth-century palatine
mosque for the exclusive use of the                been conceived and its construction        Federico Wulff, ‘The Restoration of the
                                                   initiated on an earlier date to its        Oratory of the The Partal Palace and the
sultans of the Nasrid dynasty of the                                                          House of Astasio de Bracamonte in the
medieval Kingdom of Granada (Spain)                widely accepted attribution to Yusuf
                                                                                              Alhambra of Granada, Spain’ (Cardiff
and forms part of the Alhambra                     I (1333-1355) in previous published        University. REF by-design output, 2021).
heritage complex. Since 1984, the                  research. This new dating for the
Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage                building has been redefined during
Site, key to understanding the history             the rule of the earlier sultan Ismai’l I
of intercultural syncretic processes               (1314-1325), who had already made
in Western European medieval                       several interventions in the Partal
architecture.                                      Palace. The improved legibility of
                                                   its last two historical restorations,
This restoration and its research                  the 1846 orientalist-eclectic and
outcomes were awarded with the                     the 1930 rational-scientific together
Europa Nostra Grand Prix 2019, the                 with the research findings of 2013-
most prestigious European heritage                 2017 restoration, has enabled the
award, promoted by the European                    interpretation of the Oratory of the
Commission. It has revealed original               Partal Palace as a compendium of
inscriptions, new decorative elements              the Spanish heritage preservation
and unknown to date constructive                   approaches of the last 180 years.
solutions from the Nasrid period.
Their interpretation allowed a deeper
understanding of Nasrid carpentry
techniques as more sophisticated and
distinctive from their Christian-mudéjar
counterparts.

5   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
WSA LEAD:         Magda Sibley
                                                                                                    Galila Elkadi (PI), Co-Is:
                                                                                              WITH:	
                                                                                                    Doaa Abouaelmagd and
                                                                                                    Gehan Selim
                                                                                              FUNDING:          AHRC, Newton/Mosharafa
                                                                                              YEAR:             2016 ‒

BECAMI Belle Epoque Cairo
Museums Itineraries

Belle Epoque Cairo Museums Itineraries creatively engages
school and university students with twelve forgotten
and hidden museums to co-produce physical and virtual
itineraries for visibility, accessibility and connectiveness.
The concept of heritage in Egypt                   The project demonstrates how a             Publications:
has been extended in the 1990s to                  process of emotional re-appropriation      Elkadi Galila and Sibley Magda, ‘Hidden
include artefacts and sites of the                 of these museums by the new                and Unknown: Twelve “Belle Epoque” Cairo
                                                                                              Museums Rediscovered Through Students’
late nineteenth and early twentieth                generation of Egyptians can lead to        Engagement’, the proceedings of the
centuries. This coincides with the                 self-sustaining processes of innovative    4th Biennale of Architectural and Urban
era, known as the ‘Belle Epoque’,                  engagements. It also highlights how        Restoration BRAU4. Itinerant Congress Hidden
during which Egypt rediscovered its                the Belle époque Cairo museums can         Cultural Heritage: Underwater, Underground
                                                                                              and Within Buildings. CICOP Italia ONLUS
Mediterranean roots and witnessed                  play a catalyst role for connecting the    (2018), pp. 445-54.
the emergence of cosmopolitan cities               new generation of Egyptians with the       becami.com
with their ethnic diversity, plural and            collective memory of their parents and
eclectic architecture, and the flourishing         grandparents associated with diverse
Arts. The entire Egyptian cultural                 identities, values and histories.
landscape had reached its golden                   The project resulted in the inclusion
renaissance era, when museums were                 of the belle epoque history of this era
introduced as strong educational tools             in schools and universities curricula
for future generations. Unfortunately,             generating a new dynamic of students’
these museums are today hidden and                 led research and innovation initiatives.
unknown to most Egyptians. ‘Belle
Epoque Cairo Museum Itineraries’                   The project received, an Award for
(BECAMI) is a project that develops                Best Practice from the International
innovative public engagement                       Council of Museums in Egypt in May
strategies for university students and             2017. It has also been recognised by
school children through processes                  AHRC as an exemplar project meeting
of co-production of games, physical                the Sustainable Development Goal for
and virtual itineraries and innovative             Quality Education. See http://becami.
architectural and urban interventions.             com/ for more information.

6   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
WSA LEAD:         Juliet Davis
                                                                                               FUNDING:          Grosvenor Estate Management
                                                                                               YEAR:             2016 ‒ 2021

Care and the City:
Ethics of Urbanism

The aim of this project is to consider the role
of Urban Design in the provision of care and,
ultimately the potential to create caring cities.
Care and the City considers the                    situations and circumstances of need,         Publications:
role of Urban Design in how cities                 vulnerability or experience amid the          Juliet Davis, Care and the City: Ethics of
organise, situate and provide care.                general requirements of an urban              Urbanism (Bristol: Bristol University Press,
                                                                                                 2022 forthcoming)
It begins from the premise that, as                fabric. Care is never just give, but is
populations and welfare states in the              relational, implying a recognition of the
UK and more widely struggle to cater               role of the user, or of communities,
to different needs and vulnerabilities,            in design as well as alertness to ho
Urban Design is an increasingly                    design might help configure caring
important area of focus and care.                  communities. Finally, care is future-
Across its eight chapters, the book                orientated suggesting an emphasis on
argues that many different aspects of              the potential of diverse urban citizens
Urban Design are significant, related              to flourish , and how design anticipates
both to the form and layout of urban               and shapes the future, including the
spaces and how it changes over time.               well-being of future generations. Across
Accessibility, atmosphere, continuity              its thematic chapters and drawings on
and openendedness, can all be seen                 research from twelve internationally-
as relevant to care practices and                  distributed case studies, the book
relations in a broad sense. However,               shows how these aspects of care can
drawing on feminist care ethics,                   be developed though Urban Design. It
the book argues that care through                  offers a new framing of care ethics in
crucially relies on attunement to care             terms of urban design and a theory of
needs - it involves recognising specific           caring cities.

                                                                                                Meidlinger Haupstrasse
                                                                                                Perspective View (Source: WES)

7   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
RESEARCH ANNUAL 2021 - Cardiff University
WSA LEAD:      Julie Gwilliam
                                                                                                                     WITH:	Sarah O’Dwyer
                                                                                                                     YEAR:          2017

The Central Role of Architectural Precedent
in Sustainable Architectural Design

Promoting Critical Evolution Through an Integration of
the Language of Sustainability and Design Quality

Achieving peer acknowledged                        This work sets out to engage in                   Publications:
excellence in architectural design is              transformative research to promote                Gwilliam JA & O’Dwyer, S (2018).
widely considered to be the pinnacle               a paradigm shift in architectural                 Architectural Design and / or
                                                                                                     Sustainable Building: A Question of
of achievement for any practicing                  practice such that the diverging                  Language?”. The Fifth International
Architect. Indeed, at the heart of the             worlds of architectural design                    Conference S.Arch, Venice, 22 – 24th
learning outcomes of any architectural             excellence and sustainable                        May 2018.
education is an emerging notion of                 performance can be synthesised                    Gwilliam JA & O’Dwyer, S (2018).
what Architectural excellence is and               to inform a new more complete,                    Delivering Sustainable Design
indeed, notably, this includes knowing             critical and robust language for                  Excellence: The potential role of
                                                                                                     architectural precedent. Submitted to
how to speak about it. Thus, conveying             architectural precedent, with wide
                                                                                                     PLEA 2018, Smart & Healthy within
the professional skill of understanding            reaching impacts. During this                     the 2 degree limit, Hong Kong, 10-12
and knowledge of architectural design              work I will endeavour to promote                  December 2018
language. Living alongside this is                 engagement with the architectural                 Gwilliam, J. and O’Dwyer, S. 2020.
the widely acknowledged need for                   and interdisciplinary design process,             Delivering sustainable design
the built environment broadly and                  meaningfully and accessibly in                    excellence: the potential role of holistic
                                                                                                     building performance evaluation.
buildings specifically to respond to               order to transform it into a more
                                                                                                     Architectural Science Review
the environmental, economic and                    complete critique of design quality,              (10.1080/00038628.2020.1825319)
social requirements of sustainability.             sustainability and performance than
This has brought about a schism                    currently exists.
in design practices, whereby
sustainable buildings are largely
perceived as worthy, pragmatic, but
perhaps soulless, while outstanding
architecture remains something other.

                                                   Sustainable Architectural Excellence: Outhouse by Loyn + Co Architects. 2016:
                                                   Winner of the Manser Medal & Stirling Prize Shortlisted.

8   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:           Marianna Marchesi
                                                                                                  WITH:	Chris Tweed
                                                                                                           European Union’s
                                                                                                  FUNDING:	
                                                                                                           Horizon 2020 Research
                                                                                                           and Innovation
                                                                                                           Programme [Grant
                                                                                                           Agreement n. 793021
                                                                                                  YEAR:               2018‒2021

CircuBED: Applying the Circular Economy
to the Design of Social Housing

The project explored how social housing communities
can contribute to a circular economy in cities by
social innovation, and how they can be engaged and
empowered by it.
This project explored how social                   The developed database was                Publications:
housing communities can contribute                 categorized from theoretical              Marchesi, M. & Tweed, C. (2021). Social
to the transition to a circular economy            knowledge and empirical analysis          innovation for a circular economy in social
                                                                                             housing. Journal of Sustainable Cities and
(CE) in cities and how they can                    supporting the identification of seven    Society. (accepted for publication)
be engaged and empowered in                        types of SI for resource circularity.
                                                                                             Marchesi, M., Tweed, C. and Gerber, D.
envisioning possible scenarios for                 Based on this typology, the study
                                                                                             “Applying circular economy principles
a circular community.                              defined potential opportunities for       to urban housing”, IOP Publishing:
Resource efficiency in cities is                   social housing communities as             Conference Series, vol. 588, pp. 1.15-1.19,
                                                   well as benefits and challenges.          10.1088/1755-1315/588/5/052065
connected to people behaviours, but
until now, the CE has placed limited               The findings also identified a
attention on social practices and                  complementary role that SI can play
behavioural change. On the other side,             in the CE implementation in cities.
behavioural change for sustainable                 Therefore, the project suggested the
living shows being effectively                     introduction of emerging SI concepts
encouraged through initiatives of                  into the current CE approach
social innovation (SI) that involve                to support the development of
communities and groups of interest                 opportunities.
in alternative social practice.                    Based on these results, the study
Therefore, this study pointed at                   is exploring the ability of playful
understanding the phenomenon of                    practices to engage residential
SI on resource efficiency and                      communities, promote bottom-up
circularity in cities to define the                knowledge and support collaborative
                                                                                             Social innovation types for a circular
potential contribution of social housing           discovery on how to contribute to         economy in urban communities.
communities. Through case study                    a CE. A game design concept for a
analysis, the project provided an                  serious application on SI for a CE will
overview of contemporary SI initiatives            be also outlined. Finally, preliminary
implemented by urban communities                   recommendations regarding support
and groups of interest among citizens              strategies and measures to be
aiming at promoting alternative                    implemented in policymaking for
production and consumption practices.              facilitating emerging SI initiatives in
                                                   the field will be formulated.

9   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:          Wes Aelbrecht
                                                                                                   Alistair Black (Illinois
                                                                                             WITH:	
                                                                                                   Urbana Champaign) (Co-I),
                                                                                                   Christopher Jones
                                                                                                   (CU COMSC) (Co-I)
                                                                                                      AHRC and
                                                                                             FUNDING:	
                                                                                                      Fulbright Fellowship
                                                                                             YEAR:              2019 ‒

Constructing the Urban Imaginary:
Photography, Decline and Renaissance

This book discusses the construction of three distinct “urban
imaginaries” during two cycles of urban redevelopment:
urban renewal (1940s-1960s) and downtown renaissance
(1970s-1990s) in Chicago and Detroit.

This book discusses the construction            During the period of urban renewal           Publications:
of three distinct “urban imaginaries”           (1940s-1960s), I investigate how             Aelbrecht, W. 2021. “Detroit in Memoriam:
during two cycles of urban renewal              voluntary Citizens’ Councils in both         The Spectre of Demolished by Neglect,
                                                                                             Urban Imaginaries and Performative Photo-
(1940s-1960s) and downtown                      Detroit and Chicago used blighted            Installations”. Cultural Geographies [under
renaissance (1970s-1990s) in Chicago            images as “reform publicity” to rally        review].
and Detroit. It uses a wide variety of          private organisations, public institutions   Aelbrecht, W., ‘Seeing is Believing: The Social
images to do so: photographs, films,            and individuals to support and help          Life of Urban Decay and Rebirth’, in: Campkin,
maps, graphs, and murals. It explores           organise the clearance and selling           B. and Duijzings, G. eds. Engaged Urbanism:
                                                                                             Cities and Methodologies. I.B. Tauris, 2016),
how these images were initially used            of large tracts of land to private           pp. 155-62.
for research, education and promotion           developers. By contrast, during the
                                                                                             Aelbrecht, W., ’Decline and Renaissance’,
supposedly to save the city from                period of downtown renaissance
                                                                                             Journal of Urban History 41(2), 2015, pp.
obsolescence; and later for social and          (1970s-1990s), I track how public-           307-25.
political activism to gather support            private partnerships produced images
for preservation of landmarks and               of iconic buildings, skylines and
communities. To study how “urban                multicultural festivals to pave the way
imaginaries” shape the rebuilding of the        for efforts to revitalize both downtowns.
city, in other words, how visuals shape         But even as downtown renaissance
thoughts, actions and interactions that         booster campaigns attempted to
could justify one mode of city building         create a community of believers (and
over another, I focus primarily on the          eventually consumers), images of
visual and material exchanges between           decline resurfaced, disseminated by
images, the city and its citizens.              individuals and groups who together
                                                constructed a powerful counter-
                                                imaginary in order to spur popular
                                                resistance to the wholesale destruction
                                                of buildings, neighbourhoods and
                                                communities.

10   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:         Laura Bowie
                                                                                                      Edinburgh University
                                                                                             FUNDING:	
                                                                                                      Principal’s Career
                                                                                                      Development
                                                                                                      Scholarship
                                                                                             YEAR:             2014 ‒

The Contested Urban Experience
of Post-War West-Berlin

A project exploring the symbiotic relationship
between city-dweller, urban change and identity
in post-war West-Berlin

This research explores the relationship         Using cultural outputs such as          Publications:
between changes in the urban                    film, novels, art as well as student    Bowie, Laura, ‘Berlin Not for Sale:
environment and political protest.              publications, magazines, newspapers     The Film Lens as a Tool of Urban
                                                                                        Exploration in 1960s Berlin’, Journal
Specifically, the post-war experience           and interviews, this research           of Urban History, 2020, https://doi.
of students involved in the 1968                investigates the embodied city-         org/10.1177/0096144220953419
protest movements in West-Berlin                experience and the city as agent in
                                                                                        Bowie, Laura, ‘Protest and Marginalised
and how their understanding of the              developing and instigating political    Urban Space: 1968 in West Berlin’, Studies
world was mediated through and by               action. Lived experience is therefore   in the History and Theory of Architecture, 4,
the built environment. Urban planning           used as a means to bridge the           2016, pp. 225-240.
decisions came to be seen as physical           objective and subjective.
manifestations of wider social, political       Considering how city-dwellers
and cultural ills and became embroiled          appropriated urban change,
in fundamental debates about what               understood their place in society and
society stood for. Much research has            the transnational context through
been published on the ‘68 movement              their interactions with the immediate
and on the urban history of Berlin,             built environment develops a greater
this research extends and builds on             understanding of how change in cities
this analysis to consider the lived             is directed and negotiated.
experience of city-dwellers and explores
the symbiotic relationship between
protester and city space. Considering
the local interactions between city-
dwellers and a myriad of contested
urban identities, set within regional,
national and global networks, a more
complex understanding of the urban is
developed when architectural objects
are understood in conjunction with the
flow of people, ideas, and actions.

                                                                                        Bernhard Hermkes, TU-Faculty
                                                                                        of Architecture, West-Berlin, 1968.
                                                                                        Extension by Hans Scharoun,
                                                                                        1969. (Laura Bowie, 2014)

11   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:   Marie Davidová
                                                    YEAR:       2018 ‒

Co-Performative Bio-Climatic Layers
of Built Environment: The Larger Context
Cases of Systemic Approach to Architectural
Performance

The book discusses possible routes to transition
towards Post-Anthropocene scenario where humans
live in synergy with other living and non-living beings.

The book discusses possible routes to
transition towards Post-Anthropocene
scenario where humans live in synergy
with other living and non-living beings.
This is being exemplified on several
hyper-objective research by design
cases, their systemic methodologies,
and historical references from
vernacular culture. It is layer by layer
uncovering such possibilities within
built environment and their relations
with the digital space and technology.
These relations and actions are
addressing social and environmental
justice of the coming era.

12   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:           larice Bleil de Souza
                                                                                                                           C
                                                                                                                           (UK Participant)
                                                                                                        WITH:	Valerio Cutini & Camilla
                                                                                                               Pezzica - DESTEC
                                                                                                               University of Pisa - Italy
                                                                                                                 ERASMUS Intra-
                                                                                                        FUNDING:	
                                                                                                                 European Agreement /
                                                                                                                 PhD Project
                                                                                                        YEAR:              2017 ‒ 2021

Decision-Making in Emergency Management
and Post-Disaster Recovery

This project examines how decision making in post-disaster
regenerative design processes can be better informed and
evidence-based using different computational workflows
and mixed methods approaches.
This is a research partnership between                -	
                                                        Digital process modelling and               -	
                                                                                                      Developing climate and culturally
the DESTEC and the WSA which                            information management possibly               responsive directives for designing
includes PhD joint supervision, MSc                     bridging simulation into practice in          and building environmentally and
teaching (ERASMUS exchanges for                         collaboration with stakeholders.              socially sustainable public spaces.
both staff and students), organisation                -	
                                                        Exploring formal features of                -	
                                                                                                      Exploring relationships between
of thematic sessions in international                   informal settlements and services             public open spaces, policies, and
conferences, joint peer reviewed                        accessibility for building adequate           urban form.
research publications and joint                         housing in underprivileged
research grant applications.                            communities.
                                                                                                    Publications:
Research areas include:                               2) D esign of safe and resilient urban       Pezzica, C., Cutini, V., Bleil de Souza, C. 2021.
1) Sustainable housing provision                         infrastructure and public spaces          Mind the gap: state of the art on decision-
                                                      - Identification of drivers, barriers, and   making related to post-disaster housing
    in disaster-hit cities                                                                          assistance. International Journal of Disaster
-	Approaches and techniques for rapid                   benefits of building resilient urban       Risk Reduction. Paper featured in the UN
   adaptive urban planning and design                    infrastructure for sustainable cities      Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
   decision-making in crisis situations.                 and societies (SDG 11)                     PreventionWeb global knowledge sharing
                                                      - Exploring decision-making dynamics         platform:
- Integration of bottom-up                                                                         #openaccess #DRR #decisionmaking #UN #
   collaborative mapping processes in                    and information management
                                                                                                    10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101975
   top-down urban analysis workflows.                    systems for informing restorative
                                                         urban regeneration choices.                Pezzica, C., Chioni, C., Cutini, V. and Bleil de
-	Multi-domain modelling and                                                                       Souza, C. 2020. Assessing the impact of
   simulation (e.g., bridging daylighting                                                           temporary housing sites on urban socio-
   and space syntax analysis).                                                                      spatial performance: the case of the Central
                                                                                                    Italy earthquake. Published in: Gervasi, O. et
                                                                                                    al. eds. Assessing the Impact of Temporary
                                                                                                    Housing Sites on Urban Socio-spatial
                                                                                                    Performance: The Case of the Central Italy
                                                                                                    Earthquake. Lecture Notes in Computer
                                                                                                    Science, vol. 12251. Springer, Cham, pp. 324-
                                                                                                    339. 10.1007/978-3-030-58808-3_24
                                                                                                    Pezzica, C., Piemonte, A., Bleil de Souza,
                                                                                                    C., Cutini, V. 2019. Photogrammetry as a
                                                                                                    participatory recovery tool after disasters: a
                                                                                                    grounded framework for future guidelines. The
                                                                                                    International Archives of the Photogrammetry,
                                                                                                    Remote Sensing and Spatial Information
                                                                                                    Sciences (ISPRS). pp. 921-928., 10.5194/
Temporary Housing site, surviving buildings and ruins seen                                          isprs-archives-XLII-2-W15-921-2019.
from the destroyed historic centre of Arquata del Tronto, Italy.

13    Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:           larice Bleil de Souza
                                                                                                                    C
                                                                                                                    (UK Participant)
                                                                                                 WITH:	EU COST Action
                                                                                                        RESTORE – Rethinking
                                                                                                        Sustainability Towards a
                                                                                                        Regenerative Economy
                                                                                                          EU COST Action
                                                                                                 FUNDING:	
                                                                                                 YEAR:              2017 - 2021

Decision-Making in Regenerative
Design and Development

Integrating net-zero and regenerative design processes
with digital technologies in performance-based design
and planning.

EU COST Action RESTORE is a funded              Dr. Bleil de Souza’s involvement in          Publications:
Pan-European network of researchers             this project focuses on integrating          Reith, A., Bleil de Souza, C.
and industry representatives from               regenerative design processes with           “Regenerative Buildings and Beyond:
                                                                                             Scale Jumping Sustainable and
more than 40 countries. It focuses              digital technologies in performance-         Net-Zero Designs to Regenerative
on pushing the built environment                based design and planning, more              Neighbourhoods, Districts, Communities,
beyond net-zero towards regenerating            specifically on:                             and Cities” Special Issue in
and restoring it, working within the                                                         Sustainability MDPI. https://www.mdpi.
                                                -	
                                                  Mapping, recording, and
                                                                                             com/journal/sustainability/special_
sustainable capacity of its ecosystems            transferring knowledge from                issues/regenerative_buildings_beyond
to prevent future adverse effects                 design decision-making in multiple
                                                                                             Forsberg, M. Bleil de Souza, C. 2021.
rather than mitigating them.                      disciplines to understand how              Implementing regenerative standards
Specific objectives of                            they use different types of digital        in politically green Nordic social welfare
RESTORE include:                                  tools to produce evidence to               states: Can Sweden adopt the Living
                                                  substantiate design arguments and          Building Challenge? Sustainability MDPI
- Investigating and deploying                                                               Dec 2020. Sustainability, 13, 738.
   strategies and best practice that              assess design proposals;                   https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020738
   enriches places, people, ecology,            -	
                                                  Experimenting with different design        Naboni, E. Bleil De Souza, C., Peters,
   culture and climate so they are at             methods seeking for transparency           T., Havinga, L. 2019. Tools and data
   the core of the design task;                   in design decision making by               for holistic modelling: Simulating
                                                                                             regenerative futures. (Book section)
-	
  Promote forward thinking and                    examining the role of design
                                                                                             In: Naboni, E. and Havinga, L. eds.
  multi-disciplinary knowledge which              specifications and the production of       Regenerative Design for digital
  contributes to enriching design                 evidence in enabling scrutiny and          practice: A handbook for the built
                                                  accountability of design proposals         environment. Bolzano IT, EURAC.
  within a use-centric approach                                                              https://www.researchgate.net/
  towards comfort, health and                     in relation to fulfilling sustainability
                                                                                             publication/336121907_Regenerative_
  wellbeing in harmony with urban and             goals and fighting climate change          Design_In_Digital_Practice_A_
  natural ecosystems reconnecting                 at different design scales (regional,      Handbook_for_the_Built_Environment

  people and the built environment                neighbourhood and building).
  with nature.                                  These objectives feed to planned
                                                activities related to the development
                                                of guidelines to practitioners in the
                                                use of different design methods,
                                                evidence, and digital tools for design
                                                decision-making.

14   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:    Phil Jones
                                                                                           WITH:        Hu Du (Co-I)
                                                                                           FUNDING:     Welsh European Funding Office
                                                                                           YEAR:        2019‒22

Developing Optimal Domestic Low Carbon
Ventilation Technologies to Improve Air Quality
and Reduce Health Risks from Indoor and
Outdoor Air Pollutions

In partnership with leading ventilation manufacturer Nuaire,
Cardiff University will support a 3-year PhD studentship
to develop optimal low carbon ventilation strategies and
technologies for domestic buildings in the UK.

The Knowledge Economy Skills                    The PhD student will be jointly           The KESS 2 programme is a major
Scholarships (KESS 2) has announced             supervised by Prof Phil Jones, Dr Hu      pan-Wales operation supported by
funding to support a 3-year PhD                 Du at Cardiff University and Colin        European Social Funds (ESF) through
studentship to develop optimal low              Biggs, Technical Director of Nuaire.      the Welsh Government.
carbon ventilation strategies and               This KESS PhD project aims to
technologies for domestic buildings             develop optimal low carbon ventilation
in the UK. This funding offered the             strategies and technologies for
opportunity to link the world leading           domestic buildings in the UK, to fulfil
ventilation manufacturer Nuaire                 the requirement of good air quality and
(Polypipe PLC) and the Welsh School             to reduce health risks from indoor and
of Architecture and Energy Systems              outdoor air pollution.
Research Institute to undertake                 The core objectives of this project
collaborative research.                         include the analysis of the current
                                                practice of domestic ventilation
                                                technologies and strategies around
                                                the UK with focuses on East Wales,
                                                the development of optimal low carbon
                                                ventilation strategies for domestic
                                                buildings, and to make contributions
                                                to the International Energy Agency’s
                                                Energy in Buildings and Communities
                                                Programme (IEA EBC) Annex 78.

15   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
GROUP LEADER: Magda Sibley
                                                                                             WITH:                Chris Tweed (CoI / WSA)
                                                                                                      AHRC Follow on Funding for
                                                                                             FUNDING:	
                                                                                                      Impact and Engagement
                                                                                                      (GCRF highlight notice)
                                                                                             YEAR:                2020–2021

Eco-Hammam: Engaging Key Stakeholders
with Bespoke Low-Carbon Technologies for
Lighting, Heating and Water Recycling to
Sustain a Moroccan Heritage

Eco-Hammam aims to accelerate ecological transitions in
Moroccan public bath-houses. Key stakeholders are creatively
engaged to communicate and co-produce co-ordinated
integrated strategies for energy transition, enhanced indoor
conditions and responsible water consumption and recycling.
This impact and engagement project              Each hammam consumes on                     Publications:
follows on from developments arising            average 1.5 tonnes of wood and              Magda, Sibley . Camilla, Pezzica and Chris,
                                                                                            Tweed 2021. ‘Eco-hammam: The complexity
from a previous AHRC funded project             between 60 to 120 cubic meter of
                                                                                            of accelerating the ecological transition of a
during which all the surviving and              water per day. The accumulated              key social heritage sector in Morocco’
still functioning historic hammams              environmental impact of hammams             MDPI Sustainability Journal: Special Issue
(public bathhouses)of the North                 is significant. Various uncoordinated       “Innovation and Governance in the Global
African heritage cities were surveyed           attempts were made by both National         Energy Transition”
                                                                                            (submitted and waiting for outcome)
and documented by the PI. Morocco               and International Renewable Energy
is where the largest number of still            and Energy Efficiency organisations         Project website:
                                                                                            ECO-HAMMAM – Share the resources,
functioning heritage hammams was                to reduce their environmental impact        save the planet!
surveyed and where new hammams are              by facilitating their energy transition.
part of the cluster of key urban facilities     However, it is estimated today that only
introduced in every newly residential           67 hammams out of the 12 000 have
neighbourhood. This proposal is                 made some progress in their energy
based on new developments that                  transition. The main aim of this Follow-
have emerged from the UN climate                on Funding for Impact and Engagement
change conference COP22, held in                is to facilitate the acceleration of
Marrakech 2016 and during which                 ecological transitions processes in
Moroccan hammams were presented                 Moroccan hammams. This will be
as major contributors to air pollution,         achieved through the establishment
deforestation and environmental                 of regional key stakeholders’ networks
degradation as well as high water               in each of Rabat, Fez and Marrakech
consumption and wastage. It was                 in order to creatively engage them
estimated at COP22 that Morocco has             to communicate and co-produce
at least 12 000 hammams, operating              integrated strategies for multi-sectorial
with wood burning traditional furnaces.         coordinated actions for energy
                                                transition, enhanced indoor conditions
                                                and responsible water consumption
                                                and recycling. See ECO-HAMMAM –
                                                                                            Hammam Dahab in Marrakech: (a) Entrance; (b)
                                                Share the resources, save the planet!       Traditional Furnace using wood shavings as
                                                                                            fuel and hot ashes as a slow oven for Tadjine
                                                                                            (Photo taken by Magda Sibley 2008).
16   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:           Dimitra Ntzani
                                                                                                  Sophia Banou
                                                                                            WITH:	
                                                                                                  Aikaterini Antonopoulou
                                                                                            YEAR:               2016 -

Embodied Pedagogies: Introducing ‘Otherness’
in Architectural Education

The research-examines the educational and ethical value
that embodied pedagogies and pedagogies of alterity hold
for architectural education.

In the context of UK-architectural              The research-examines the                Publications:
education, unstable, diverse and                educational and ethical value that       Dimitra Ntzani, ‘Troublesome pedagogies:
ephemeral bodies are usually absent             embodied pedagogies and pedagogies       introducing ‘otherness’ to 1st year design
                                                                                         studio’, in Initiations: practices of teaching 1st
from design studios, or find ‘thin’             of alterity hold for architectural       year design in architecture, Chatzichristou, C.,
passages to their briefs through the            education. It-looks at how ‘other’       Icavovou, P. and Koutsoumpos, L. eds. 2021,
ARB (GC5-GC6) criteria. In their                bodies can help us navigate              pp. 195-204.
common manifestations, these                    aesthetical/technological aspects of     Student Workshop, funded and awarded by the
bodies become a learning vehicle for            design, promote synergies with other     Festival of Innovative Learning, run and funded
introducing basic architectural tools           disciplinary-areas, raise awareness      by the University of Edinburgh 2016.
and qualities (scale, orientation, views,       on unstable bodies and contexts, and
materiality) in 1st year. However, during       positively infiltrate studio cultures.
these initiations to embodied thinking,
discussions on their complexity,
diversity and ephemerality are often
limited to sensory explorations of
architecture or to debates on ergonomic
design. These same qualities are
rarely addressed in 3rd and 4th-year
studios, where students usually work
on large-scale public programmes, and
manage the needs of ‘average’ users
and diverse social groups. As a result,
complexity, diversity and ephemerality
are then predominantly explored
discursively in history and theory
modules and dissertations, keeping
safe distance from the design studio.

17   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:       Joanne Patterson (Co-I)
                                                                                                Led by Strathclyde University.
                                                                                          WITH:	
                                                                                                22 Universities 22 Universities,
                                                                                                50+ researchers
                                                                                          FUNDING:         PSRC/UK Industrial Challenge
                                                                                                          E
                                                                                                          Fund Prospering from the
                                                                                                          Energy Revolution (PFER)
                                                                                                          Programme
                                                                                          YEAR:           2018‒23

Energy Revolution Research Consortium:
EnergyREV

The EnergyREV Consortium is providing evidence for
scaling up smart local energy systems - maximising the
use of sustainable resources, engaging and empowering
communities and people, delivering an equitable move to
a zero-carbon future whilst enhancing the UK economy.
The primary objective of the Energy             The consortium are undertaking            There are six key research themes:
Revolution Research Consortium                  a strategic programme of                  •	Infrastructure: Adapting advances
(EnergyREV) is to coordinate and                interdisciplinary research, interacting      in AI, data analytics and controls;
integrate existing UK world-class               with all aspects of the PFER Challenge
knowledge, research teams and                   programme to ensure that UK               •	Business: Understanding current
facilities to provide advice, research          academic expertise delivers impact           local energy business sector to
and innovation support to help ensure           and is enhanced through detailed             accelerate innovation;
the success of the Industrial Strategy          engagement with BEIS, industry, the
Challenge Fund Prospering from the              Energy Systems Catapult and all key       • Institutions: Assessing policy,
Energy Revolution (PFER) programme.             stakeholders. The consortium are             regulation and markets for local
EnergyREV are working together as a             strongly engaging with stakeholders          energy sector change;
strongly managed, closely coordinated,          and existing capability through
                                                                                          •	Users: Investigating how user
highly multi-disciplinary, group of             key partners at all levels to ensure
                                                                                             preferences and practices evolve
researchers from across 22 Universities         strategic leadership, strong
                                                                                             overtime;
in the UK involving more than 60                Consortium management and effective
academics. £12 million has been                 research, analysis and learning. The      •	Developing a whole systems
secured by the EnergyREV Consortium.            flexible research programme, informed        understanding: Capture and
                                                by early analyses and to be focused          synthesise knowledge from all
                                                at the later stages on knowledge             aspects of the value chain and
                                                gaps, priority tasks or results from         integrating learnings.
                                                the emerging PFER demonstrators
                                                and design projects and broader case      •	Supporting scale-up: Understanding
                                                studies where smart local energy             potential constraints that can prevent
                                                systems are being demonstrated.              scale up of local energy systems
                                                                                             and solutions to overcome them.

                                                                                          The WSA has secured £900,000
                                                                                          to lead Knowledge Management,
                                                                                          Engagement and Dissemination
                                                                                          across the Consortium and to be
                                                                                          part of the Executive Committee and
                                                                                          Management Committee.

18   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:      Vicki Stevenson
                                                                             WITH:	Archit Mehra (Chester), Zaheer Nasar
                                                                                    (Cranfield), Stefano Rolfo (STFC), Stephanie
                                                                                    Gauthier (Southampton), Alejandro Rangel
                                                                                    (Lancaster), Jo Zhong (Nottingham Trent),
                                                                                    Rob Ferguson (Essex), Douglas Booker (NAQTS)
                                                                                      Science and Technology Facilities Council
                                                                             FUNDING:	
                                                                                      – Air Quality Network
                                                                             YEAR:          2020 – 2021

Exploring how Sources, Behaviour and
Mitigation Strategies Influence Indoor
Air Quality: A Pilot Study

Developing interdisciplinary monitoring and modelling
relating to indoor air quality as a pilot study
The average person in the UK spends             The physical experiments will take
more than 90% of their time indoors,            place at the DOMestic Systems and
but there are many issues affecting             Technology InCubator (DOMESTIC)
indoor air quality (IAQ). This short            at Chester University. This is being
pilot project will analyse IAQ issues           fully mapped in relation to base line
relating to particulates and biological         emissions as well as airflow prior to
pollutants generated during cooking,            experiments commencing.
dishwashing and house cleaning in               Detailed monitoring of the IAQ during
relation to low and high ventilation.           specific activities and ventilation
The behaviour to be monitored has               flows will be used to evaluate low cost
been guided by the UK Time Use                  environmental diagnostic equipment.
Survey and considers confounding                It will also develop appropriate
factors such as household size and              CFD models utilising STFC high
weekday vs weekend.                             performance computing facilities to
                                                facilitate future investigations.
                                                This work is intended as a proof
                                                of concept to allow future work to
                                                investigate further real-world indoor
                                                environments both experimentally
                                                and numerically.

19   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:        Federico Wulff Barreiro
                                                                                           WITH:	Noha Nasser-MELA (Co-I),
                                                                                                  Oscar Brito CSM-UAL (Co-I)
                                                                                           FUNDING:          uropean Commission (2013-
                                                                                                            E
                                                                                                            2015)/ WSA Research Grant
                                                                                                            2021 (under assessment)
                                                                                           YEAR:            2013 ‒

Euro-Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology
(EMUVE)

EMUVE (Euro-Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology)
as spatial catalysts for new forms of citizenship and
identity based on mutual respect, recognition and
empowerment for urban and social transformation.
Since 2013, the European                        EMUVE research includes two design         Publications:
Commission-funded project EMUVE                 research Units within MA Architectural     Federico Wulff, Oscar Brito, ‘Intercultural
(Euro-Mediterranean Urban Voids                 Design (MA AD) which are exploring         spatial practices as an opportunity for the
                                                                                           alternative reactivation of historic urban
Ecology) has explored alternative               multi-scalar ICNs. The Units are           landscapes – The case of Palermo’, Urban
design research strategies for                  working within the logic of design         Design International, 25: 250-265 (London:
reactivating contemporary European              research think tanks, in collaboration     Springer Nature, 2020). https://doi.
urban landscapes in crisis. From 2016           with public institutions and local         org/10.1057/s41289-020-00126-6
onwards, EMUVE is focusing on the               stakeholders with different degrees        Federico Wulff, Renzo Lecardane, Paola
migration and refugee crisis impacting          of influence on the social and urban       La Scala, ‘PROGETTARE LO SPAZIO
                                                                                           INTERCULTURALE. Approccio multi-scalare nel
social and urban degradation, exploring         transformation of their cities.
                                                                                           quartiere Albergheria a Palermo. DESIGNING
Inter-Cultural Nodes (ICN) as spatial           The research outcomes, including           THE INTERCULTURAL SPACE. A multi-scalar
catalysts for new forms of citizenship          collaborations with local stakeholders     approach in the Albergheria neighbourhood
and identity based on mutual respect,                                                      in Palermo’, AGATHÓN – International Journal
                                                and the design research process            of Architecture, Art and Design 07: 82-91
recognition and empowerment.                    within the think tank Units, have          (Palermo: Demetra/Palermo University Press,
According to Bhabha (1994) and                  been and continue to be published          2020). https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-
                                                                                           9309/792020
Bloomfield (2007) approaches, an                in academic journals and books.The
Inter-Cultural Node (ICN) could be              aim of this research would be to form      Federico Wulff, Oscar Brito, ‘Multi-scalar
identified as a third space, a pluralist        part of the debates within intercultural   Intercultural Spatial Practices of migrants and
                                                                                           local communities as an opportunity for an
space that develops relational practices        International networks such as the         alternative reactivation of deprived historic
at multiple scales (urban, public space,        Council of Europe Intercultural Cities     urban landscapes. The case of Palermo
architectural), where the participants,         network (https://www.coe.int/en/           (Sicily, Italy)’ in Generosity and Architecture,
including locals and all kinds of               web/interculturalcities) with the aim      Kite S., Drozynski Ch., McVicar M. (eds.).
                                                                                           (London: Routledge, 2021; In preparation).
culturally-diverse migrants that have           of applying for a European-funded
been frequently subjected to exclusion,         research project.
could collaborate together in creative          Over the medium term, our research
expression and dialogue on joint                aim will be to articulate a REF Impact
projects within shared ethical bounds –         Case Study on interculturality and its
such as openness, cultural recognition,         multi-scalar spatialisations for urban
equality, anti-discrimination, dialogue         and social transformation for the urban
and sharing of knowledge (Bloomfield,           and social transformation of excluded
2013; Landry and Wood, 2008).                   and marginalised communities.
Our aim is to expand current knowledge
on the multiple relations between
interculturality and contemporary
architecture, focusing on the production
                                                                                           San Benedetto il Moro, Saint Patron of Palermo:
of ICNs.
                                                                                           a thirteenth-century black African (Igor Scalisi
                                                                                           Palmintieri 2016)
20   Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
WSA LEAD:          Nastaran Peimani
                                                                                                     WITH:	Hesam Kamalipour
                                                                                                            (School of Geography
                                                                                                            and Planning,
                                                                                                            Cardiff University)
                                                                                                     YEAR:              2019 –

Forms of Informal Urbanism

Studying forms of urban informality at the
intersections between sociality and spatiality
across cities of the global South

Forms of informal urbanism – ranging                 There is a distinction between the       Publications:
from informal settlements to informal                studies of informality in the context    Kamalipour, Hesam, and Nastaran
street vending and informal transport                of Global North and South. There is      Peimani. “Informal Urbanism in the State
                                                                                              of Uncertainty: Forms of Informality and
– have become integral, yet not                      thus a need to explore different types   Urban Health Emergencies.” Urban Design
necessarily limited to the ways in                   of informality and the role of urban     International (2020).
which cities of the global South work.               design in it. This project focuses
                                                                                              Kamalipour, Hesam, and Nastaran
These forms of urban informality work                on the ways in which urban design        Peimani. “Negotiating Space and Visibility:
as resources to manage the pressing                  thinking and practice can most           Forms of Informality in Public Space.”
challenge of poverty and, as such,                   effectively engage with the capacities   Sustainability 11, no. 17 (2019): 4807.
become integral to sustain livelihoods.              and challenges of informality. The       Kamalipour, Hesam, and Nastaran
While forms of informality may invoke                primary focus would be on different      Peimani. “Towards an Informal Turn
                                                                                              in the Built Environment Education:
images of poverty and disorder, they                 forms of informality and the relations
                                                                                              Informality and Urban Design Pedagogy.”
cannot be simply conflated with each                 between informal and formal in cities    Sustainability 11, no. 15 (2019): 4163.
other. The critical role of urban design             across different contexts and scales.
in addressing this challenge is yet to
be explored.

Informal Street Vending (Photo Credit: Hesam Kamalipour)

21    Welsh School of Architecture Research annual
You can also read