About
With over twenty five years of teaching architecture Helen is primarily an educator, researcher and all round feminist focussed on playful pedagogies, questioning the future of gender equitable cities and exploring different approaches to feminist spatial practice. Her research is pedagogically driven and focuses on exploring feminist and inclusive architecture, particularly how it influences our cities and spaces. And she loves talking about it all! Through employing inclusive and participatory methodologies she enjoys asking questions (sometimes awkward) and fostering discussions on feminisms and EDI that all aim to ultimately envision the creation of Feminist Cities which embrace difference and challenge gender norms in urban environments. Using innovative brief writing, engagement techniques and pedagogical design games Helen enjoys building with those who do not normally build and have a wide range of projects demonstrating this approach to teaching and pedagogical research.
A little bit of career history...
Before joining Liverpool School of Architecture Helen worked as a Reader at the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) Helen where she was the Departmental Education Lead where she strategically supported the teaching and learning across the department and collaboratively developed new courses for a sustained growth. Most recently, the creation of two new Masters programmes, a new Foundation year and a new Part 3. She recently led on the rewriting of the BA and M.Arch courses in line with PSRB changes from the RIBA and ARB to start in 2025. Over many years she has taught across the school and led BA2 (2007-2008), then BA1 for five years, coordinated the BA/M.Arch Events Programme (2008-2013) now called MSALive, was admission coordinator (2013-2016) and then co-led BA3 for four years until 2020 whilst also co-running MSA Projects with Stefan White until she started PRAXXIS studio atelier in 2018.
Helen loves having conversations about all things personal, political and pedagogical inside and outside of the academy. After many years of teaching, she challenged the MSA to allow a specifically feminist research led studio to be developed and from there she set up PRAXXIS aimed at stimulating a positive intersectional feminist debate. PRAXXIS collectively and collaboratively built a portable consultation station, a series of gossip spaces at a local school and designed some fabulous feminist architectural wallpaper. Some interesting work she is exploring at the moment is a unique approach to the understanding and development of feminist architectural technologies and about the conversations needed to explore feminist architecture and feminist pedagogies.