A talk by Milena Metalkova-Markova, University of PortsmouthTeaching architecture in the 21st century requires a paradigm shift as the global environmental crisis transforms higher education toward educating active individuals capable of initiating and leading a process of resilient community building. Here, social justice, learning by doing, team spirit and co-creation are major ingredients to transform the built environment.Can sustainable architecture research become a consistent line of higher education practice to weave all these threads together, blurring boundaries between client, designer, user and creative fields toward a resilient community? This talk highlights an education methodology through a combination of research and teaching on regional revitalisation, urban regeneration, adaptive reuse and retrofit of historic buildings.The objectives are to highlight the transformative methodological aspects in terms of a) mixed use of conventional methods of architectural surveys&3D recording with interpretative artistic installations, b) students’ involvement with community in different roles, c) support of rural regions’ administration to implement sustainable projects, d) abandoned historic buildings as test sites and e) transformative rural regeneration model as a collective teamwork.

Bio
Milena Metalkova-Markova is a Bulgarian architect who specialized in heritage preservation and citizen participation in Japan (PhD from Kyoto Institute of Technology). Her research there was focused on heritage-led urban and architectural regeneration. She has taught architectural anthropology, history of modern architecture and architectural design within historic contexts in Japan, Bulgaria and the UK. She has been awarded several times for her work with students in conservation and urban design – Japan Tohoku International Competition 2nd Award, Japanese Ambassador Award-2018, Historic England angel Award-2019. She is interested in the links between art, architecture and heritage conservation and since August 2019 works as an associate professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Portsmouth, teaching Conservation Practice at Portsmouth School of Architecture MArch Building and Heritage Conservation. She has been involved in the design of spatial installations as a catalyser for heritage revitalization, exhibiting alone or with students in art galleries and historic buildings in Japan, Bulgaria and the UK.