My research engages the pervasive roles of diagrams as analytical, generative, narrative and critical devices manifest in design practices that draw on thick cultural milieus and that operate at corporeal, architectural and urban scales. 

Building on this theoretical strand of my research, I have been investigating representation more widely in urban planning, participatory urbanism, co-production of space by architects and inhabitants, and irregular urbanism.

In collaboration with communities and international academic partners, I have undertaken field research on Schlieren, Switzerland (supported by a research funding award from the ETH Zürich), Jabal Al Natheef, Amman, Jordan (supported by research funding from the Heinrich Böll Foundation), Ban Krua, Bangkok, Thailand, Cerro de la Cruz, Valparaiso, Chile (supported by a Santander Research Mobility Grant).

I am currently researching collaboratively on the co-production of space by the architect BV Doshi and inhabitants of Bimanagar, Ahmedabad, India; an edited book disseminating this research is forthcoming in 2025. The project is supported by grants from the Global Challenges Research Fund, the RIBA Research Fund and the Graham Foundation New York.

I have served internationally as external examiner of PhD theses. At Kingston I serve as Postgraduate Research Coordinator at the Department of Architecture and Landscape.

PhD supervision

I supervise PhD researchers working on representation in urban planning, participatory urbanism, co-production of space by architects and inhabitants over time, co-housing, informalisation and appropriation, irregular urbanism, cross-cultural perspectives and experiences of urbanisation. I welcome proposals from ambitious students in those areas.

I joined Kingston University in 2007; from 2016-18 I was School Director of Research at the School of Art and Architecture and since 2016 I am Faculty Research Ethics Lead. 

Previously, I researched and taught at ETH Zürich, the University of Stuttgart and Canterbury School of Architecture.

After graduating from the University of Stuttgart in 1993, I practised architecture and urban design with Behnisch & Partners and Auer + Weber, Stuttgart before setting up my practice in Zürich. Buildings that I have been responsible for as project leader include the new University Library Magdeburg (completed 2003, won in competition 1998), social housing in Ingolstadt, Germany (1998), and an urban design and housing project for Anting New Town in Shanghai, China (2005).

I have lectured widely in the UK and internationally, including at the Deutsche Architektur Museum Frankfurt, ICA London, ETH Zurich, METU Ankara, Türkiye, German Jordanian University Amman, Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies Mumbai, CEPT University Ahmedabad, Tashkeel Gallery Dubai, UAE, Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand, and Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago.

I have been an external examiner at the School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Plymouth from 2014 to 2017. I review book proposals for Routledge and Fairchild Books and am peer reviewer for academic journals such as ARQ, UDI, Architectural Design, The Journal of Architecture and Urban Studies Journal. As of 2023, I am a member of the AHRC Peer Review College.