RIAI Supports PhD Research on Community Engagement in Housing Design

Following a decision by RIAI Council to support architectural research, we are delighted to announce that our second recipient is Ailbhe Cunningham, PhD researcher at TUDublin.  Ailbhe is investigating the role of community engaged processes and situated spatial knowledge in the design and renovation of multi-unit housing schemes in Ireland.

This research proposes a socially oriented framework of evaluation and engagement that considers the social function and adaptability of existing neighbourhoods at the outset of projects - an adaptation to the technical learning processes evident in Post Occupancy Evaluation carried out at the post completion stage of project delivery.

This PhD research is funded by the Irish Research Council (Taighde Éireann) and the RIAI through the Enterprise Partnership Scheme.

The inaugural RIAI supported researcher was  Dr. Dervla MacManus, who completed post-doctoral research on Gender Equity in Irish Architecture.