Doina Petrescu

Born and trained as an architect in Romania, I have studied philosophy at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris with Jacques Derrida, and have completed a PhD in Women's Studies at the University of Paris VIII, supervised by Helene Cixous.

I am Chair of Architecture and Design Activism at the School of Architecture, where I have been working since 2001. I have been Visiting Professor of Urban Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design (2014-15) and have previously taught at Architectural Association London, Iowa State University, EA Paris-Malaquais and the UAIM Bucharest.

My research addresses outstanding questions in architecture and urban planning focusing on issues of co-design, civic participation, gendered practices, political ecology, co-production and urban resilience.

In the last decade, I have conducted 12 research projects (total funding €2.6M) with partners in 18 countries and high standing research outputs. I have published 8 books, over 38 articles in books and refereed journals and over 30 articles in other publications.

I have given over 50 keynotes and invited lectures and co-founded the Building Local Resilience Research Platform at the Sheffield School of Architecture, and Field peer review journal. I am also co-founder of Atelier d’Architecture Autogeree, an internationally acclaimed research based practice, pioneering participation in architecture and urbanism since 2001.

My work has received international recognition including the European Prize for Political Innovation – category ecology (2017) Zumtobel Foundation Award for Research & Initiative (2012), the Curry Stone Prize for Social Design Innovation (2011) being included in the Public Interest Design list (2012) of top 100 global leaders of the ‘future of a ground-breaking movement’.

Research interests

My research focuses on three main strands – Gender and Space, Participation in Architecture and Co-production and Urban Resilience, all with a strong international dimension.

The research into the first strand has led to a number of lectures and publications including the edited book - Altering Practices: Feminist Politics and Poetics of Space (Routledge 2006), the authored book Architecture Otherhow: Research in contemporary practice (Routledge 2018) and a few important articles.

The second strand concerns issues of space governance, community planning and participation in Architecture, with a number of articles and a co-edited book - Architecture and Participation (Spon Press, 2005).

Most of research and actions conducted by Atelier d´Architecture Autogérée (AAA) cover these topics. The significance of this work and its high level of excellence is illustrated by numerous prizes awarded to AAA for different projects (EcoBox, Passage56, R-Urban), by research funded by various bodies (EC Horizon 2020, EC Life+, French Ministry of Ecology) and by the high number of world-leading research outputs (buildings, designs, books, journal articles).

Co-production and Urban Resilience, is reflected in current design work and research, contributing with new knowledge to the idea of open source resilience. This knowledge was developed via the R-Urban participative resilience strategy innovative design project conducted by AAA and via academic research projects such as EcoDA (Experimental Co-Design Approaches: Investigating possibilities for creating networks of resilient citizens and civic actions of urban resilience through hybrid platforms).

In addition this strand has been developed via the Building Local Resilience Platform I lead at the School of Architecture in Sheffield and the international conference Architecture and Resilience (2015) that I have co-organised.

I have been guest co-editor of the Buidling Research and Information special issue on Co-producing Neighbourhood Resilience (BRI, 44(7)) and have co-organised an EDGE debate on Co-Production of Resilience (Nov 2016).

Investigations have been conducted across the three strands, as in publications like Urban/ACT, A Handbook for Alternative Practice, (aaa-peprav, 2007) and Trans – Local – Production: Cultural practices within and across (Paris: aaa-peprav 2010).

I have co-founded the Research Centre: Agency Transformative Research into Architectural Practice and Education, with whom I have developed teaching related research and have participated in two EU funded projects: PEPRAV and Rhyzom, coordinated by AAA.

Companies

• head of research School of Architecture , University of Sheffield (2013)
• co-founder atelier d'architecture autogeree (2001)
• professor of architecture and design activism university of sheffield (2001)
• visiting professor Harvard Graduate School of Design (2014 — 2014)
• director of graduate school university of sheffied, school of architecture (2009 — 2013)
• artist documenta 11 (2002 — 2002)
• visiting professor Iowa State University (1999 — 1999)