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PhD in Architecture Recent Graduates Lectures

Wednesday, February 14th, 2024 at 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

  • In-person event
  • The Pit Architecture Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6

Speakers: Brynne Campbell, Maryam Mirsepassi, and Miquel Reina Ortiz

The Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism will host a school-wide lecture to celebrate the recent PhD graduations of Brynne Campbell, Maryam Mirsepassi, and Miquel Reina Ortiz.

Professor Federica Goffi, Co-Chair of the PhD in Architecture program will introduce the speakers, who will each present a 25-minute talk based on their PhD dissertations.

Schedule:

Brynne Campbell: 3.00 p.m. to 3.25 p.m.

Miquel Reina Ortiz: 3.25 p.m. to 3.50 p.m.

Maryam Mirsepassi: 3.50 p.m. to 4.15 p.m.

Question Period: 4.15 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Brynne Campbell

Brynne Campbell graduated from the PhD program in 2022. She is the marketing director at Figurr Architects Collective, an architecture firm based in Montreal and Ottawa. Passionate about architectural storytelling through text and images, she strives to find innovative ways to help architects showcase their work and communicate their unique value.

Dr. Campbell has presented papers on marketing in architecture and the architect’s image. She recently presented at the Ontario Association of Architects conference and is currently working with Routledge on a book based on her dissertation. She was the co-organizer of POP // CAN // CRIT (Popular Topics, Canadian Context, Critical Questions). The national architecture symposium, which took place between 2016 and 2019, served as a resource, educational tool, and opportunity to share experiences and ideas related to architecture within a Canadian context. 

Dissertation TitleMarketing Architecture in Canada: Exploring the Architecture Profession’s Understanding and Use of Marketing: 1955 – 1985 to Present 

Summary: The dissertation examines the Canadian architecture profession’s historical use and understanding of marketing, as discussed through professional journals and resources written for and by architects between 1955 – 1985. Emphasis is placed on The Canadian Architect magazine as a critical voice for the profession in Canada. Campbell’s research takes a multi-method approach to explore the questions and issues of marketing architecture in Canada from multiple angles. The dissertation looks at the historical conversations regarding marketing within the context of contemporary questions raised at the symposium, POP // CAN // CRIT 2017: Marketing and Promotion of Architecture in Canada. Her dissertation aims to help the profession reflect on how far they have come and gain clarity on where they are going.

Supervisor: Dr. Federica Goffi, Professor, Co-Chair PhD Architecture, ASAU, Carleton University

Advisor: Michel Rod, Dean of Business, University of New Brunswick, Carleton University

Advisor: Stephen Fai, Professor, Director CIMS, Co-Chair PhD Architecture, ASAU, Carleton University

Miquel Reina Ortiz 

Miquel Reina Ortiz defended his dissertation in 2023. He is an adjunct professor in the Faculté de l’Aménagement of the Faculty of Environmental Design at the Université de Montréal. He also teaches heritage documentation courses as a guest professor at the Master of Monuments Restoration at the UPC in Barcelona. He has collaborated with Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) in the documentation of World Heritage Sites and the development of new digital workflows applied to heritage conservation. His research concerns the relationship between different scales of intervention within the context of the historic city. He is an ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Historic Cities, Towns and Villages (CIVVIH) associate member. He studied architecture and holds a MSc. in Restoration and Rehabilitation at ETSA Barcelona (UPC). His professional experience as a licensed architect focuses on public space, housing, interiors, and competitions. 

Dissertation Title: The Role of the Detail in the Historic City: The Interdetails of Barcelona Ciutat Vella

Summary: The story of the city is the story of its parts — its neighbourhoods, its blocks, its buildings, its bricks-and-mortar, its inhabitants. I examine the city as more than the sum of its parts, considering the relationship between the scales of the urban fabric, building and construction detail. The detail, in this context, is the focus: an assemblage of components, tangible and intangible, whose relationships continuously change being essential to preserving the spirit of place. In particular, I examine the historic city of Barcelona and present its most characteristic tectonic element, the volta de maó de pla (tile vault or Catalan vault), as an interdetail to discuss how it plays an essential part in its conservation and maintenance. Fine-grained details are essential to determine how the cycle of recovery and renewal can be balanced in the context of the whole, harmoniously contained in its parts—the city is in the details.

Supervisor: Dr. Mariana Esponda, Assoc. Prof., Coordinator Architectural Conservation and Sustainability, ASAU, Carleton University

Co-Supervisor: Dr. Mario Santana Quintero, Professor, Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Engineering, Carleton University,

Co-Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Fai, Professor, Director CIMS, Co-Chair PhD Architecture, ASAU, Carleton University

Advisor: Dr. Federica Goffi, Professor, Co-Chair PhD Architecture, ASAU, Carleton University

Maryam Mirsepassi

Maryam Mirsepassi graduated from the PhD program in 2023. She is an intern architect with the Ontario Association of Architects, a project manager, and a landscape designer. Mirsepassi was born and grew up in Tehran, Iran. She received a Bachelor of Architecture from Tehran University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. Her research areas include theories of imagination, the imaginal world, Persian gardens, miniatures, and architecture, specifically in 16th-century Iran. 

Dissertation Title: The Imaginal Garden: Imagination and the Persian Garden in the Mystical Philosophy of Shahab Al-Din Suhrawardi 

Summary: Over the past several decades, many of the gardens and parks in Iran have been affected by a lack of attention to their design and details. One reason for this flaw is an absence of awareness of the role of the notion of imagination in Persian gardens. This dissertation investigates the relationship between the Persian garden and the imaginal world of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi (1154-1191), a 12th-century Persian philosopher. He describes the imaginal world as between the immaterial and material and between light and darkness. He refers to the imaginal world in his works, specifically in his Persian treatises, where he uses the elements of the Persian garden to portray this world. The research studies these elements and explores the symbols and metaphors he uses to reveal his philosophical thoughts. This dissertation also investigates the elements of the Persian garden in the three arts of literature, miniatures, and gardens.

Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Fai, Director CIMS, Professor Co-Chair, PhD Architecture, ASAU, Carleton University

Advisor: Dr. Federica Goffi, Professor, Co-Chair PhD Architecture, ASAU, Carleton University

Advisor: Dr. Hooman Koliji, Associate Clinical Professor, Executive Committee Member, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland, reACT ThinkTank