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.
Assembling Realism? Another View on Portuguese Architectural Culture (1955–1990).
by Filipe Lacerda Neto
This research positions itself in relation to two key knowledge gaps concerning late 20th century architecture and urbanism in Portugal: a) the processes of collective knowledge production in Portuguese architectural culture, which is often portrayed as the result of individual genius; and b) the influence of the engagement with realist architectural principles in European discourse during the final decades of the 20th century, which are normally not connected to Portuguese architectural culture… full description of Filipe Lacerda Neto's project
Between Apartheid and Urban Design: New Civic Centres in South Africa (1940-1980)
by Thomas Chapman
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 a town. Whereas British civic centres mainly emerged from the post-war ‘civic pride’ movement, in South Africa… full description of Thomas Chapman's project
Landscapes of Migration: On the Plural Ecologies of Mining Settlements in Limburg, Belgium.
by Jacopo Zani
This research project focuses on the mining settlements of the Belgian Limburg, from the perspective of various human and nonhuman migration movements. Specifically, it argues that despite the image of disruption that has consolidated in response to the decline of mining activities, such migration movements have also articulated the mining landscape through innovative ecological relations. Thus, the dissertation traces… full description of Jacopo Zani's project
Noch Dorf oder schon Stadt?: Instruments and Mechanisms of Negotiated City-making in Zurich, 1942–1957.
by Natalia Voroshilova
This dissertation examines the negotiated city-making practices that shaped the urbanisation of Zurich’s outer districts in the first post-war decade. Anchored in the tenure of Stadtbaumeister Albert Heinrich Steiner (1942–1957), this period marked one of the most ambitious phases of coordinated city expansion in Zurich. Built in response to unprecedented housing demand, political consensus, federal subsidies for non-profit housing, and active Bodenpolitik, these neighbourhoods embodied a collective attempt to align housing production... full description of Natalia Voroshilova's project
Of Silent Giants and Still Waters: Exploring East and West Berlin’s Mass Housing Estates from the Ground Up, 13,700 BCE – 2025 CE
by Robin Hueppe
Berlin’s mass housing estates are characterized by their expansive and lush landscapes. However, they have been primarily revisited by recent architectural historiography, focusing on their architectonic and sociopolitical significance. This dissertation addresses the gap between architectural and landscape research by developing a land(scape)-oriented methodology for the housing estates. Through two case studies... full description of Robin Hueppe's project
Precious Lands: Negotiated Resourcifications of Frankfurt am Main’s Jewish Urban Landscape, 1930s-1990s
by Meitar Tewel
In the wake of the Second World War, Frankfurt am Main’s extraordinary urban rehabilitation and its status as a growing financial capital overshadowed the vanishing of its deeply rooted Jewish urban landscape. Once a major Jewish epicenter, Frankfurt’s Jewish spatial presence was drawn into a layered process of erasure in the 1930s and 1940s. Through years of racial persecution and ethnic cleansing, property expropriation, designed demolitions, Allied bombings, restitution proceedings, and sweeping urban renewal campaigns, numerous Jewish neighborhoods,… full description of Meitar Tewel's project
Tracing Women in Swiss ‚Eco-Architecture‘: A Gender-theoretical Perspective on the History of Ecological Architecture in Switzerland, 1960s-1990s
by Jana von Wyl
Today’s narratives on sustainability in architecture are largely framed in technical and economic terms, often disregarding the earlier traditions of “eco-architecture” that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Spurred by the oil crisis of 1973 and alarming environmental reports of the time, numerous architects, together with other actors, began to reconsider the house in terms of resources and alternative energy supplies. These early approaches to eco-architecture… full description of Jana von Wyl's project