historical research for your projects
To describe, explain, and interpret the history of the built environment and its visual and material culture, in support of contemporary questions on why things are the way they are, and how to change them, restore them, or recover their forgotten histories.
research fields
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I carry out archival research to reconstruct a building's material history — sourcing historical maps, technical drawings, photographs, and municipal records to date phases of construction, renovation, and alteration. Through documentation, I can identify the chronological layers, original or later additions, cross-referencing archives and literature with on-site inspection of materials and structural elements. This kind of documentation is useful groundwork for renovation, heritage assessment, or any project that needs a clear record of a building's physical layers before design decisions are made.
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I reconstruct a landscape's design history through historical maps, estate archives, aerial photography, and site surveys, tracking changes to layout, planting schemes, water features, and boundaries across different ownership periods. I can identify surviving historical elements versus later interventions, and trace design authorship back to specific landscape architects or garden styles where the archival record allows it. This gives designers and land managers a documented basis for conservation planning, restoration decisions, or adapting a landscape while respecting its historical structure.
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I research the planning history of urban areas through archival maps, municipal records, and comparative case studies, tracing how zoning, infrastructure, and building typologies have changed over successive planning phases. I can document why specific urban forms exist — which decisions, regulations, or precedents shaped a district's layout — and identify overlooked historical layers that may be relevant to a current redevelopment or heritage designation. This research can support studios working on urban renewal, heritage-sensitive masterplanning, or public space redesign.
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I combine academic research into contemporary art with hands-on experience in the art and design world — from museum and gallery contexts to design journalism and cultural events. I can research and document an artist's or movement's material practice and historical context. This is useful for design studios working on cultural projects, exhibition content, or design-adjacent publications that need accurate art-historical grounding.
research process
define the question TOGETHER
To tailor the best resuts, it needs to be clear what is truly the question to be answered. This will help me at the moment of gathering historical material sources that can be used as comparison, as inspiration, or as evidence for the contemporary process dealing with historical layers.
gather the RELEVANT information
Through qualitative methods (archival research, historical mapping, comparative analysis, on-site observation, interviews, survey) sourcing photographs, plans, and records that speak directly to the question at hand.
SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE
The research becomes a resource you can use: a written report, a visual narrative, or material woven directly into your design process, depending on what the project needs.