Architecture, Culture and Tectonics Research Group
 

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Katharina Borsi

Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

Dr Katharina Borsi is Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham and the Deputy Director of Research Excellence of the Faculty of Engineering.

Katharina worked in architectural practice in Berlin and London. She taught in the Architectural Association Histories and Theories Programme and the Mackintosh School of Architecture before joining the Department at Nottingham. She has led the MArch Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2) and was instrumental in setting up a new Part 2 programme focussing on collaborative research with practice.

She holds appointments as External Examiner for the MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design (Projective Cities) Programme, Architectural Association; the MArch Architecture at Leeds Beckett University and the BArch Architecture at Sheffield Hallam University.

Katharina Borsi is part of the Architecture, Culture & Tectonics Research group.

Expertise Summary

Katharina's research and teaching focuses on urbanism and the history and theory of housing. She has published extensively in these areas, including The Berlin Tenement and the City (Routledge 2023), Housing and the City (Routledge 2022), Housing, Inhabitation and the City (Special Edition of the Journal Architecture and Culture No 10.3/ 2022) and Architectural Type and the Discourse of Urbanism (Special Edition Journal of Architecture 23:7-8 2018).

She is a frequent author, editor and reviewer in the Journal of Architecture and Architecture and Culture.

Katharina's has also been involved in EU and Innovate UK funded research projects on sustainable and resilient cities and sustainable community energy networks with case studies in Nottingham. Her expertise also includes urban design consultancies.

Teaching Summary

Katharina teaches architecture and urbanism, theory and design studio.

Research Summary

Katharina research focuses on the intersection between housing, domesticity, and the urban; the agency of architecture in urban transformation; and live/work, learning and innovation environments.… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

Katharina research focuses on the intersection between housing, domesticity, and the urban; the agency of architecture in urban transformation; and live/work, learning and innovation environments. She has lectured and published extensively on the history and theory of housing and urbanism in Berlin. She is also involved in EU and Innovate UK funded research projects on sustainable and resilient cities, and undertakes design research and urban design consultancies.

Past Research

Housing and the City

Housing and the City, edited by Katharina Boris, Didem Ekici, Jonathan Hale and Nick Haynes was published in June 2022. The book brings together essays from the Housing and the City conference ACT hosted in November 2020, iin which scholars from across the world to reflected on the historical and theoretical genealogy of question: what does it mean to be at home in the city in the twenty-first century, in an age of evolving social and work patterns, increased geographical mobility and climate concern? The conference attracted 125 speakers and 230 delegates, making it one of the largest of its kind; and saw contributions from over 20 different countries, delivering an unprecedented international reach.

For more information please follow this link:

https://www.routledge.com/Housing-and-the-City/Borsi-Ekici-Hale-Haynes/p/book/9781032156583

Housing and the City explores housing histories, theories, and projects in diverse geographies. It presents a geographically dispersed history of the twentieth-century modern housing project and its social diagram, juxtaposed with case studies from the past and the present that suggest that we can live and work differently.

While the contributions are diverse in their theoretical approach and geographical situation, their juxtaposition yields transversal connections in the conception of the home and the city and highlights the diversity of architectural solutions in the formation of housing and its communities. The collection also reveals architecture's contribution to the construction of the self and communities, the individual and the collective-as both urban spatial entities and socio-political concepts.

Housing and the City provides essential reading for students, academics, and practitioners interested in the history, theory, or current design of housing. At a time when cities are witnessing new ways of working, changing social demographics, increased geographical mobility, and mass migrations, as well as the pervasive threat of the climate crisis-all trends exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic-Housing and the City presents a historical and theoretical reflection on the question: what does it mean to be at home in the city in the twenty-first century?

She was the co-editor of the Journal of Architecture Special Edition Architectural Type and the Discourse of Urbanism (2018).

In 2018, Katharina held a research and teaching fellowship at the Chair for Architectural Theory, TU Berlin.

In 2017, she organised the symposium Building Knowledge Neighbourhoods, in collaboration with the AA, TU Berlin Chair Architectural Theory and Chair Urban Design. The symposium brought together academics and practitioners from Nottingham, Berlin and London to discuss new approaches to the design, planning, and servicing of crossover living and working environments; their range and programmatic diversity; their morphologies and densities as well as their relationship to mobility and a broader set of urban resources.

  • YE XU, KATHARINA BORSI and JONATHAN HALE, 2023. Working at Home - Architects during the Pandemic in China. In: PENNY SPARKE, ERSI IONNIDOU, PAT KIRKHAM, STEPHEN KNOTT and JANA SCHOLZE, eds., Interiors in the era of Covid-19 Bloomsbury Press. (In Press.)
  • KATHARINA BORSI, DIDEM EKICI, JONATHAN HALE and NICK HAYNES, eds., 2022. Housing and the City Routledge.
  • KATHARINA BORSI, DIDEM EKICI, JONATHAN HALE and NICK HAYNES, 2022. Housing and the City: Architectural Experimentation and Social Diagrams. In: KATHARINA BORSI, DIDEM EKICI and JONATHAN HALE, eds., Housing and the City 1-9
  • NICK HAYNES and KATHARINA BORSI, 2022. Type and the Collective Space of the Housing Project. In: KATHARINA BORSI, DIDEM EKICI, JONATHAN HALE and NICK HAYNES, eds., Housing and the City 124-130
  • KATHARINA BORSI and TIM HEIDE, 2022. Resilient Structure, Collective Form Residential and Studio Building at the Former Berlin Flower Market. In: KATHARINA BORSI, DIDEM EKICI, NICK HAYNES and JONATHAN HALE, eds., Housing and the City 213-222
  • KATHARINA BORSI, 2022. Productive Morphologies and Intersecting Voids. In: KATHARINA BORSI, DIDEM EKICI, JONATHAN HALE and NICK HAYNES, eds., Housing and the City Routledge. 234-247
  • YE XU, KATHARINA BORSI and JONATHAN HALE, 2022. How did plants (re)-enter our home? An investigation of domestic garden during the pandemic in Shanghai’ In: Embodied cultures of collecting, creating, constructing and conserving.
  • YE XU, KATHARINA BORSI and JONATHAN HALE, 2022. ‘Redraw Domesticity: Can drawing create new voices? In: Voices in Architecture (AHRA Research Student Symposium 2022, University of Westminster).
  • YE XU, KATHARINA BORSI and JONATHAN HALE, 2022. Working at Home: Architects during the Pandemic in China In: Drawing Lockdown Symposium (Drawing is free, Drawing Projects UK and Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize).
  • HEIDE, T. and BORSI, K., 2022. Resilient Structure, Collective Form: Residential and Studio Building at the Former Berlin Flower Market. In: Housing and the City Taylor and Francis. 213-222
  • BORSI, K., EKICI, D., HALE, J. and HAYNES, N., 2022. Preface and Acknowledgements: Housing and the City Housing and the City. xiv
  • BORSI, K. and HAYNES, N., 2022. Introduction to Part 2: Collective Types and Urban Areas: Housing and the City Housing and the City. 181-183
  • WU, X., KOU, Z., OLDFIELD, P., HEATH, T. and BORSI, K., 2021. Informal Learning Spaces in Higher Education: Student Preferences and Activities. Buildings. 11(6),
  • KATHARINA BORSI, 2021. Flows and Zones: A Genealogy of the 'functional City': Planning Perspectives Planning Perspectives. 1313-1316
  • FAGEIR, M., PORTER, N. and BORSI, K., 2020. Contested grounds; the regeneration of Liverpool waterfront: Planning Perspectives Planning Perspectives.
  • KATHARINA BORSI and ANNA SHAPIRO, 2019. Type, New Urban Domesticities And Urban Areas Wolkenkucksheim: Internationale Zeitschrift zur Theorie der Architektur. 24(38), 149–166
  • KATHARINA BORSI, TARSHA FINNEY and PAVLOS PHILIPPOU, 2018. Conversations on type, architecture and urbanism Journal of Architecture: Special Issue Architectural Type and the Discourse of Urbanism, Academic Editors: Katharina Borsi, Tarsha Finney, Pavlos Philippou. 1-15
  • KATHARINA BORSI, 2018. The Hobrecht Plan and the Emergence of Urbanism Serbian Architectural Journal.
  • KATHARINA BORSI and CHRIS SCHULTE, 2018. Universities and the City: from Islands of Knowledge to Districts of Innovation Journal of Architecture: Special Issue Architectural Type and the Discourse of Urbanism, Academic Editors: Katharina Borsi, Tarsha Finney, Pavlos Philippou. (In Press.)
  • KATHARINA BORSI, TARSHA FINNEY and PAVLOS PHILIPPOU, 2018. Architectural Type and the Discourse of Urbanism Journal of Architecture: Special Issue Architectural Type and the Discourse of Urbanism, Academic Editors: Katharina Borsi, Tarsha Finney, Pavlos Philippou. 23(7-8),
  • ALVAREZ, L., BORSI, K. and RODRIGUES, L., 2017. The role of social network analysis on participation and placemaking: Sustainable Cities and Society Sustainable Cities and Society. 28, 118-126
  • ALZAHRANI, A., BORSI, K. and JARMAN, D., 2017. Place-making and its implications for social value: A comparison study of two urban squares in London: International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning. 12(4), 752-762
  • 2017. The Berlin Block and the Bourgeois Dwelling In: 70th Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Glasgow, Scotland.
  • BORSI, KATHARINA, NOTTINGHAM, MEGAN and PORTER, NICOLE, 2016. The Typology of the Berlin Block: History, Continuity and Spatial Performance Athens Journal of Architecture. 2(1), 45-64
  • ALVAREZ, L., RODRIGUES, L., BORSI, K. and GILLOTT, M., 2015. A bifocal-ecological approach for enhancing social resilience in neighbourhoods In: AIARG 2015 Systems Thinking and the City: New practices and connections, Fourth Annual Meeting. (In Press.)
  • KATHARINA BORSI and MEGAN NOTTINGHAM, 2015. The Typology Of The Berlin Block: Continuity And Spatial Performance In: 5th Annual International Conference on Architecture. (In Press.)
  • KATHARINA BORSI, LAURA HANKS and SOLMAZ KHOSHKHOLGHI, 2015. Public Art and Transforming Urban Places: The Case of Sheaf Square, Sheffields Regenerated Gateway In: Tenth International Conference on the Arts in Society, Imperial College London. (In Press.)
  • MOHAMED FAGEIR, NICOLE PORTER and KATHARINA BORSI, 2015. Regenerating Liverpool Pier Head Waterfront: the Role of Urban Design City, Culture and Architecture. 1(1), 21-38
  • RODRIGUES, L., ALVAREZ, L., BORSI, K. and GILLOTT, M., 2014. The Resilience Timeline: A Tool for Framing Community Resilience and Its Application on Empirical Metanetwork Analysis In: RESILIENCE 2014 - Third International Science and policy Conference on the resilience of social & ecological systems - Resilience and Development: Mobilizing for Transformation. Montpelier, France - 4-8 May 2014
  • ADENAN, R., RODRIGUES, L., BORSI, K. and KIAMBA, L., 2014. Kampong Ayer: A Community Living on Water in Brunei Darussalam In: PLEA 2014 – 30th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture: Sustainable Habitat for Developing Societies – Choosing the Way Forward.. Ahmedabad, India
  • RODRIGUES, L., ALVAREZ, L., BORSI, K. and GILLOTT, M., 2014. A bifocal approach for framing community resilience In: 2nd International Conference on Urban Sustainability and Resilience (USAR).
  • BORSI, K., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and KHOSHKHOLGHI, S., 2014. Continuity and Transformation: A Civic Heart for Chester-le-Street The International Journal of Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts. 9(1), 23-30
  • HUSSEIN, M., PORTER, N. and BORSI, K., 2013. Who Speaks for Liverpool?’ Communicating Urban Identity through Place Branding In: Communication and the City Conference, The University of Leeds.
  • LAURA GASKELL and KATHARINA BORSI, 2013. Mapping the Creative Industries in Nottingham: The Potential of Place In: Potentials and Challenges of Cultural and Creative Industries in medium-sized Cities, URBAN CREATIVE POLES PROJECT, BTU Cottbus.
  • BORSI K., 2012. University Planning and Architecture: The Search for Perfection, by Jonathan Coulson, Paul Roberts, and Isabelle Taylor: Book Review Journal of Urban Design. 17,
  • BORSI, K., 2012. Drawing the Region In: Theoretical Currents. (In Press.)
  • BORSI, K. and BROWNE, J., 2012. Spatial Stories In: Theoretical Currents. (In Press.)
  • KOSHKHOLGI S., BORSI K. and HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. Public Art in Regeneration Projects for Public Spaces In: Arts in Society, Liverpool John Moore University. (In Press.)
  • BORSI, K., HOURSTON HANKS, L., FAIRFAX, J. and KHOSHKHOLGI, S., 2012. Whose Public Art is it Anyway? In: Arts in Society, Liverpool John Moore University. (In Press.)
  • BORSI, K. and DURMAZ, B., eds., 2012. Designing Place Book of Abstracts: International Urban Design Conference University of Nottingham.
  • BORSI, K. and DURMAZ, B., eds., 2012. Proceedings of the Conference Designing Place: International Urban Design Conference University of Nottingham.
  • BORSI, K., 2010. Anthologie zum Städtebau, Von der Stadt der Aufklärung zur Metropole des industriellen Zeitalters Vol.I., Lampugnani V., Perotti E. and Frey K. (eds.). Gebrüder Mann Verlag, Zürich, 2008: Book Review European Architectural History Network. 3, 44-47
  • BORSI, K., 2009. Drawing and dispute. The strategies of the Berlin block. In: DI PALMA, V., PERITON, D. and LATHOURI, M., eds., Intimate metropolis: urban subjects in the modern city Routledge. 132-152
  • BORSI, K., 2009. Contemplative Innovation: Nottingham’s new Science Park Architecture Today. 196,
  • BORSI K and HALASA D., 2009. Skyscraper in the Perspective of Urban Design. In: HONGYUAN M and YING Z., eds., The New Trends of the Creation of High-Rise Building 17-21
  • BORSI, K., 2009. Building Descriptions. In: Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century Architecture London, Phaidon Press.
  • BORSI K and HALASA D., 2008. Skyscrapers in the Perspective of Urban Design Urbanism and Architecture: High-Rise Buildings in the21st Century. 49, 17-19
  • BORSI K and TOBE R., eds., 2008. Brayford Enabling Development Framework Lincoln, Ruddick.
  • BORSI, K., 2007. Drawing the City In: Defining Space, International Interdisciplinary Conference, University College Dublin, Friday 12-Saturday 13 October 2007.
  • BADER, M., BORSI K. and LIESEGANG, J., 2006. White Spots Gefährlichen Kreuzungen - Ortstermine 2006, Munich , Germany, 09/01/2006 00:00:00
  • BASAAR S. and BORSI, K., eds., 2006. Scales and/of Engagement London: Architectural Association.
  • BORSI, K., 2003. New Media Art Strategy for Vista Xchange Masterplan Singapore: consultancy for Zaha Hadid Architects
  • BORSI, K, 2002. Shifting Boundaries: The Transformation of Spitalfields Giornale dell’Architettura. 27,
  • BORSI, K., 2002. The Construction of Memory in Interwar France, by Daniel Sherman AA Files. 48, 80-83

Architecture, Culture and Tectonics

The University of Nottingham
Faculty of Engineering
Nottingham, NG7 2RD


telephone: +44 (0)115 74 86257
email:ACT@nottingham.ac.uk