Research
Portable and Flexible Architecture
My research interest lies in the way that temporary, ephemeral and flexible buildings and events impact on the architectural environment, and I have been publishing regularly in this field since 1994. My primary research objective has been to clarify the important role that portable and flexible buildings have to play in creating appropriate, economic, sustainable modern architecture. I have extended this work into the general impact that technological advance and flexible design strategies have on architectural design and the experiences and philosophies that have inspired its aesthetic and symbolic development. My current research in this area continues with my research into how mobile and flexible environments for live performance can utilise and revitalise urban spaces.Portable Architecture Website
Popular Music Architecture
Linked to my work into portable and flexible architecture has been the investigation of popular music performance space, both innovative contemporary development and its long-term history over the past three hundred years. Recent grant support has been from a senior research fellowship grant from the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust in 2012 and Paul Mellon Centre grant in 2013. My most recent book was This Must Be the Place: An Architectural History of Popular Music Performance Venues, my monograph published by Bloomsbury, New York in 2019. I have also recently published commissioned essays for The Conversation and Architectural Design.
Research grants
The Architectural History of Popular Music Performance Space
BRITISH ACADEMY (UK)
September 2012 - August 2013
City in film: Liverpool's urban landscape and the moving image.
ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
May 2006 - May 2008
Flexible architecture: the history, development and cultural impact of responsive building.
ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
January 2005 - May 2005
The Architectural History of Popular Music Performance Space: 1650-1950
PAUL MELLON CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN BRITISH ART (UK)
May 2013 - January 2017
Mapping the city in film: a geo-historical analysis.
ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
July 2008 - July 2010
Transportable environments: the impact of emerging technologies on the design of portable architecture.
BRITISH ACADEMY (UK)
April 2004
Building the New Home - the cultural implications of new technology on house construction.
LEVERHULME TRUST (UK)
August 2001 - August 2003
Individual academic research over 3 weeks to investigate the history, development and cultural impact of responsive building in Japan through the genre of flexible architecture.
THE DAIWA ANGLO-JAPANESE FOUNDATION (UK)
May 2003 - May 2004
Research collaborations
Prof. Sara Cohen
Liverpool: Musical Landscapes
Liverpool: Musical Landscapes examines the history of the city of Liverpool in terms of the physical places that have contributed to its musical history. The research explores the cafes, pubs, clubs, and halls were musical activity has taken place, but also investigates the importance of the city's streets, parks and the River Mersey. By examining one city in detail, the objective is to gain a general understanding how urban form can influence and nurture musical participation, performance, culture and business. The project will culminate in a book to be published by Historic England in late 2016.
Prof. Julia Hallam
Co-applicants on two AHRC grant awards for the research: City in Film: Liverpool's Urban Environment and the Moving Image.
Prof. Filiz Klassen
Ryerson University, Toronto
Co-Chair of the 3rd International Conference on Transportable Environments, co-editor of the proceedings.
Joseph Lim, Y.C. Wong
National University of Singapore
Co-Chairs of the 2nd International Conference on Transportable Environments, co-editors of the proceedings