Dr Anthony Powis (he/him)

School of Architecture and Landscape

Lecturer in Architecture and Climate

Anthony Powis
Profile picture of Anthony Powis
A.Powis@sheffield.ac.uk

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Dr Anthony Powis
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile

I am concerned with architecture's past, present, and future relationships with climate breakdown. My background is as an architect, working mostly on various types of public spaces (urban landscapes, museums, playgrounds) with muf architecture/art. Before that, I studied at Cardiff, Westminster, and the AA. My PhD (also at Westminster) was part of the project Monsoon Assemblages, which looked at the interactions between rapid urban development, and changing monsoon climates. My thesis focussed on Chennai and its subterranean environment: looking at ways in which different people generate knowledge about groundwater, the kinds of knowledge that is produced through different practices, its limits, and the forms of environmental stewardship that these different knowledges generate. Most recently, I have been part of the AHRC/DfG-funded project Architecture after Architecture: Spatial Practice in the Face of the Climate Emergency, alongside Tatjana Schneider, Christina Serifi, Jeremy Till, and Becca Voelcker. Together we are the research collective MOULD.

Qualifications
  • PgCert Academic Practice in Art, Design and Communication University of the Arts London, 2023
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture University of Westminster, 2021 ‘Thinking with Groundwater from Chennai: Materials, Processes, Experimental Knowledges’
  • University Certificate of Special Study in Supporting Learning University of Westminster, 2018
  • Examination in Architectural Practice (RIBA Part 3) Architectural Association, 2014
  • Master of Architecture (RIBA Part 2) University of Westminster, 2012
  • Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (RIBA Part 1) Cardiff University, 2009
Research interests

I am interested in the interrelation of spatial production, knowledge production, and climate production, including: boundaries of architectural knowledges; futures of architecture, urban design and creative practice; and responses to the climate crisis. I have previously been an associate with Architecture sans Frontieres-UK, working with participatory design techniques, and have also studied the production of space in urban protests. I am interested in more-than-human research methodologies, as well drawing as a research method.

Publications

Books

  • Bremner L, Cullen B, Geros CL, Bhat H, Powis A & Cook J (2022) Monsoon as Method: Assembling Monsoonal Multiplicities. Barcelona: Actar. RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

Chapters

  • Powis A, Schneider T, Serifi C, Till J & Voelcker B (2023) Remembering the future In Lokko L (Ed.), The Laboratory of the Future: Catalogue of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition (pp. 170-173). Venice: Mostra. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Powis A (2020) Acts of Drawing Something You Cannot See In Bremner L & Cook J (Ed.), MONSOON [+ other] GROUNDS (pp. 89-95). London: University of Westminster. RIS download Bibtex download

Website content

  • Powis A, Schneider T, Serifi C, Till J & Voelcker B Provocation as Care. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Powis A, Schneider T, Serifi C, Till J, Volecker B & Bovelett S Architecture is Climate. RIS download Bibtex download

Theses / Dissertations

Teaching interests

My teaching revolves around relationship between architecture and climate breakdown, specifically in areas other than technology—such as politics, culture, and infrastructures.

Teaching activities

I teach across Undergraduate and Postgraduate humanities including leading ARC104 - Architecture and Society. I am involved in thesis supervision across Research and Taught Postgraduate, MArch, and Undergraduate courses.

Professional activities and memberships

I am a registered architect and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.