Histories and Theories of Architecture

History/Theory: Critical Thinking Lead

Maria Theodorou

Architecture/Theory: Dissertation Lead

Maria Theodorou The two MArch modules H&T teaching focuses on educating ‘architects to be’, who would be able to critically assess and articulate orally and in writing the complex financial / political / cultural / historical / social / legal / technical / technological issues interwoven with the production of architecture. By attending a series of lectures and working on writing assignments, students become interested to engage differently in design studio; they are enticed to incorporate architecture Histories and Theories knowledge into their design projects and seek to re-shape the conditions of contemporary cities and territories. A series of ten lectures offered by Maria Theodorou discuss instances of architecture histories, and current and past design concepts and practices.

Lecture topics indicate the multiplicity of thinking modalities available to architects and cover a wide range of knowledge areas such as: architecture education, political economies, gender, philosophy, heritage conservation, utopias, activism, new materialisms, climate change, post-humanism, AI, etc. The lectures invite students to acknowledge architecture’s inter-disciplinarity and set up a framework that challenges given assumptions and the canonical approach to architecture design, histories, and knowledge. Five Lectures/Seminars on Academic Writing and Research Methods introduce students to primary research requirements and assist them to assemble conceptual toolkits for thinking and discussing architectural issues in their 10.000-word dissertation.

Dissertations Topics

Transdisciplinary Assemblage of Embodied Dis/ Enchantment: A Diffractive Analysis of Hampton Court Palace

The Thames Assemblage: A Common Goods Resource in London

Physical and Virtual Working Environments: The Wincer Kievenaar Architects Office and COVID Working Platforms

An Architecture of Support for Breastfeeding in the UK

Actors, Assemblages and Technology: Mapping a UK Election

Whose Agency in Community-led Architecture Projects? The Somerleyton Road in Brixton Symbiosis of Architecture with Permaculture Architectural Means of Helping the Homelessness Crisis in the UK

Adaptability of the Segal Self-built Method: Walters Way, Lewisham

House Design, Domesticity and Gender: A Victorian House at Park Terrace in London Home, Gender, and Diaspora: Women in Moutallos, Cyprus

The Labouring of Dawson’s Heights: is Kate Macintosh a ‘Feminine’ Architect?

Towards an Integrated Lockdown: Zoning Essentials

Social and Environmental impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Cityscape: Kensington & Chelsea Green Spaces

Urban Transport Interchange: Kings Cross London Data Technology: Surveillance in Tower Hamlets

Amazon’s Warehouse: Technology and Customers Obsession

A monument to Live in: Conservation and Adaptability of the Diocletian’s Palace in Split, Croatia

Architecture, the Tourist, and the Believer: The Abbey’s Pilgrimage Route Changing Attitudes Towards Historic Monuments and Buildings: the Role of the Victorian Society in the Statutory Listing of St Pancras Railway Station

Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Christian Architectural Style in St Anne’s Church, Limehouse

Do Architects Dream of Eclectic Béton Brut?

Perceptions of Modular Construction

Design with Engineered Timber/CLT glulam The Future of Social Housing: The Goldsmith Street, Norwich

The Crossing: Ledra Street, Nicosia, Cyprus

Southhall’s Urban Realm: Architecture and the Socio-cultural Needs of the 21st Century Indian Punjabi Second Generation Diaspora

Architecture and West African Politics -The Three Arms Zones: The Change of Capital from Lagos to Abuja, Nigeria