Doctoral Projects

More detailed information on ongoing and completed Doctoral Projects can be found on the Avermaete Chair Repository.

For further information please consult the Avermaete Repository.


Between Apartheid and Urban Design: New Civic Centres in South Africa (1940-1980)

by Thomas Chapman

Aerial photography of Mitchells Plain Civic Centre: Urban Designer- Cape Town City Engineers Department/ David Jack, Completed 1980.
Mitchells Plain Civic Centre: Urban Designer- Cape Town City Engineers Department/ David Jack, Completed 1980.  (Thomas Chapman, 2022)

The emergence of civic centres in the wake of World War II constitutes a significant chapter in South Africa’s urban design history yet is overshadowed today by the dark legacy of apartheid spatial planning. South African civic centres generally followed the example set by Great Britain, where public buildings and municipal offices were developed to establish the centre of … full description of Thomas Chapman's project


Building the Afropolis: Urban design as Worldmaking in Morocco and Senegal (1956-1980)

by Lahbib El Moumni

10 May 1975 – Presentation of the project “Village pilote “La Belle Vue” à Khemisset”.
10 May 1975 – Presentation of the project “Village pilote “La Belle Vue” à Khemisset”. (Courtesy : Photothèque de l’école National d’Architecture de Rabat.)

The second wave of decolonization of Africa took place from the mid-to-late 1950s to 1975. Colonial governments gave way to independent states with sudden and radical regime changes on the continent. Apart from nation-building processes, this political transformation was also strongly shaped by political imaginaries that went beyond nationalism, reimagining the relationships ... full description of Lahbib El Moumni's project


City of Codes: A Historical Analysis of the Relation between Urban Codes and Urban Form in the Production of the City of Zurich, 1863–1946

by Sanna Kattenbeck

Zürich Old Town from the air, 1908.
Zürich Old Town from the air, 1908. (Public domain mark / Baugeschichtliches Archiv, falls bekannt bitte FotografIn angeben)

This dissertation explores the complex relations between urban codes and urban form that have shaped the city of Zurich from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Urban codes have a long history of being one of the most proactive ways to govern urbanisation processes and are often presented as reactions to the practical challenges ... full description of Sanna Kattenbeck's project


Tamed Waters: Ordering the City and Hinterland of Meknes, 1912–1956

by Sara Frikech

Meknès : Plan d'aménagement / Section technique des plans de villes du Maroc
Meknès : Plan d'aménagement / Section technique des plans de villes du Maroc (Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans, GE A-1380 (7))

This dissertation examines the hydraulic infrastructure of the city and hinterland of Meknes at the time it was a French protectorate (1912-1956). There have been many studies on French colonial architecture and urbanism in Morocco. Studies focusing on rural modernisation are less common but interest in the subject is growing. However, spatial and material research on the hydraulic infrastructure within a rural-urban continuum remains largely unexamined … full description of Sara Frikech's project


Exploring Urban Scale Models: The Projets Urbains and the Public Performance of the “Maquette”, 1960s – 1990s

by Maxime Zaugg

The urban model of the project of Les Halles, Paris, 1968.
The urban model of the project of Les Halles, Paris, 1968. (© Getty Images, Photo by Georges Melet/Paris Match)

Very little research exists on urban-scale models. In existing scholarship, they are often lumped together with architectural models. Although urban models certainly possess characteristics that are similar to those of architectural models, they also differ. The key difference, this research project hypothesises, is that in urban-scale models, the performative capacity … full description of Maxime Zaugg's project


(Re)Encounters: Tacit knowledge, queer experience and architectural education since 1970

by Hamish Lonergan

Re-enactment progress, 2021.
Re-enactment progress, 2021.  (Chair Avermaete, ETH Zürich)

This dissertation explores the little-known influence of Michael Polanyi's philosophy of tacit knowledge on architectural education. It examines four moments when tacit knowledge, though always present in the design studio, was explicitly addressed: in the studios of Melvin Charney and Colin Rowe in the 1970s .… full description of Hamish Lonergan's project

JavaScript has been disabled in your browser