Dr Ioana Popovici

Ioana qualified as an architect in Romania, subsequently joining the teaching staff of the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism for two years whilst also engaged in practice (residential, commercial) at one of the top Bucharest-based architecture studios. 

She joined the University of Plymouth for a doctoral research project focused on the critical examination of architecture praxis in articulation with power, the economy, and the specific socio-cultural practices of socialist Romania and their post-socialist transition, parsed through the lively discursive arena of architectural journals. 

During her doctoral studies, Ioana joined the UoP's School of Architecture teaching staff, supporting the history, theory, and critical context stream alongside design and communications, gradually expanding her teaching portfolio with module leadership and curriculum development roles. 

Since the completion of her PhD (2019), Ioana has transitioned to a Lecturer in Architecture role, and is now teaching across the BA (Hons) Architecture programme, and undertaking PhD supervision. Ioana has also taught previously on the Master of Architecture / MA Architectural Design programmes.

Her current research and teaching interests converge on the intersection between displacement, spatial practices, and creative agency in liminal cultural contexts, while her teaching ethos blends community-based, inter-disciplinary design with a strong focus on the collaborative and pedagogical potential of the architectural gesture. 

• Leah Dinning - Shifting Scale – a study of bodily experience in urban space (in progress, 2nd supervisor)
• Merrydith Russell - Making a new world: Evaluating colonial thinking in reference to displacement of refugees, how curatorial methodologies can support spatial justice (in progress, 2nd supervisor)
• Marjan Saberi - Behind Closed Doors: A Practice-led Inquiry into Women's Domesticity in Mashad (Iran) (in progress, 2nd supervisor)

Reviewer for Routledge architectural book proposals and thematic architecture handbooks; peer reviewer for Architecture and Culture. 

• Leah Dinng - Shifting Scale – a study of bodily experience in urban space (in progress, 2nd supervisor)
• Merrydith Russell - Making a new world: Evaluating colonial thinking in reference to displacement of refugees, how curatorial methodologies can support spatial justice (in progress, 2nd supervisor)
• Marjan Saberi - Behind Closed Doors: A Practice-led Inquiry into Women's Domesticity in Mashad (Iran) (in progress, 2nd supervisor)

Ioana's research and teaching interests converge on the critical examination of architecture praxis - past, present, and future - in articulation with power, social, economic and cultural practices. The pedagogy of architecture and the role of language in shaping the spatial practices of the everyday also form a core area of this research focus. Since 2014, Ioana has supported architecture students in History, Theory + Critical Context to explore topics such as: liminality; transgressive architecture; matters of race, gender, and identity; disaster-relief design; the architectural critique of neo-capitalism; sustainability; the ethics of architecture practice, etc. 

Since joining the Y1 Design Studio / Communications team, Ioana's keen interest in the pedagogy of architecture has primarily attended to the pathways through which awareness of the key areas of architectural discourse (both historical and contemporary) can help students develop informed, nuanced, and context-responsive design proposals. 

In continuity with the civically-engaged stream of projects developed by Toshiko Terazono ( BA(hons) Architecture Y1 Leader), and Dr Karen Wickett (Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies), this lively Y1 studio module has set up as a collaborative place-making encounter between the children of High Street Primary Academy, Y1 Architecture, and Y3 Early Childhood Studies. The interdisciplinary live project (Oct 2021 - Feb 2022) sought to connect people and place around meaningful shared stories wrapped in architectural gestures which are site-responsive, environmentally aware, and sustainably resourced. 

https://millbayacademy.org/news/stonehouse-creek-projecthttp:/ [images from the children-led siting & place-making]

Previous projects from this ongoing collaborative initiative connecting BA architecture students with the needs of local Plymouth schools include an outdoors classroom for the the Riverside Community Primary School (leader: Toshiko Terazono), which has been shortlisted for the RIBAJ MacEwen Award:

https://www.ribaj.com/macewen/macewen-awards-2020-university-of-plymouth-students-riverside-community-primary-school-plymouth-outdoor-classroom-firepit