Amalia Katopodi

I am a Lecturer of Architecture at Umeå University since 2015 with over twenty years of practice experience. My research lays in the field of urgent architectural pedagogies stretching beyond the conventional learning environments with focus on contexts of social and civic injustice.

At Umeå School of Architecture I was Deputy Head and Programme Director from 2016 to 2020, with specific responsibility for Education during a time when the architectural pedagogy and profile of the school were being reformed. My leading role in the Pedagogical Development work for the department has been the introduction and implementation of the current Master’s Programme and structure, as well as the Studio Teaching environment, framework and methodology.

Other crucial works include the reinvention of the First Year of the BA Programme with focus on experiential, process-based learning methods and the integration of supporting courses and knowledge as demonstration of a hands-on, holistic approach into architectural design. Major works include the introduction of the Un-fashion Show, the Interdisciplinary Workshop and the 1:1 live project and building of the UMA End of Year Exhibition Pavilions.

I have led a number of socially engaged Design Studios in different universities and also here at Umeå School of Architecture in the MA Programme, with focus on situated action through live projects and with emphasis on transformative learning methods that address ethics, poetics and tectonics equally.

In recent years, I am responsible for Studio 10: “Displacement: the Global Challenge” in the MA Programme collaborating with the Global Free Unit led by Prof. Robert Mull, an international network of partners and projects addressing pressing social issues including displacement and migration. As member of this constellation for research and learning and within the context of UMA, I have co-led a number of summer courses and live project classrooms working closely together with academics, researchers, NGOs, local partners and communities to design and built for a number of displaced populations on Lesvos, Greece and Izmir and Torbali, Turkey.

This research work has received seed funding and support from collaborations such as the trans-national WHIT Project and the UmArts Research Centre by means of a Small Visionary Project. The Pedagogical Development work being conducted in the studio has also received an innovation PUNKTUM grand from Umeå University to support students’ learning. During this time, we have been invited to exhibit our work both locally and internationally, with worth mentions being the Venice Architectural Biennale in 2021 and the British Academy Summer Showcase in 2022. Other research collaborations within Umea University that have emerged from this body of work include the New European Bauhaus's Visioner i Norr Project and the Displacement Working Group.

I studied Architecture at the University of East London in the UK and was recruited in 2011 to be part of the core academic team to start-up a collaboration with the AMC in Greece and to establish a new School of Architecture in Athens. Here, I was responsible for the international accreditation and RIBA validation of the Architecture Programme, as well as Studio and Module Leader of different courses, including Technology. I am also co-founder of the small practice i.architects and a member of the Office of Displaced Designers with main aim to keep shortening the gap between education, research and practice.