Manifesto/s 2019

PhD students had the opportunity to share and discuss their ongoing research and gather feedback from designated panel reviewers for each session. Hands-on workshops provided a platform for skills learning experimentation in the areas of research methodology and research writing.

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Event details

The Manifesto/s conference became part of the PhD course at the Sheffield School of Architecture in 2018 with its first edition and its success led towards continuing this initiative. The second conference took place on 17–18 May 2019.

Researchers’ activities do not rely only on the systematic research, the thoroughness of work and sharing their knowledge, but also on the capacity to present one’s work results and to exchange ideas amongst fellow researchers and other specialists.

The aim of Manifesto/s is to improve students’ ability to exchange and communicate their ideas – the ability to present them in an integral and comprehensive way over a limited time. For first year students, it may be the first time they are presenting work on their research subject.

The atmosphere of the conference – organised in a familiar faculty environment – allowed students to present their work and prepare for their first examination, the Confirmation Review. Starting from this year, the Manifesto/s conference became a compulsory element of Sheffield’s School of Architecture research activities for first year students. It was an opportunity for them to practise presentation skills in public, share their findings and gain precious feedback from the University’s faculty members which helped them prepare for the Confirmation Review.

Twenty participants presented their research which was divided into four thematic groups:

Built environment and building performance
Urban, space and politics
Architectural theory and practice
Architectural history and heritage

Organisation committee

Ayse Humeyra Bas
Niveen Daoud
Bana Darwich
Omar Hamed
Khalid Hamoodh
Deniz Kesici
Zainab Murtadhawi
Szymon Ruszczewsk

Workshop BIO BIAS

In addition to the main event, there was a workshop on the second day which allowed students (including Masters students) to work on research methodology.

The workshop BIO BIAS was lead by Siobhan Barry from the School of Architecture at the University of Manchester. During the workshop, students investigated the resource efficiency in the construction industry, while identifying problem areas and emulating a pattern, process or mechanism found in nature that offers a solution to the problem.

The workshop was very creative, productive and held in a warm and friendly environment. Many thanks to Siobhan Barry and all attendees!

Students sat around a table with Siobhan Barry

Siobhan Barry in discussion with students

Students watching Siobhan present her work

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Workshop introduction

“Tread lightly on the land.” – Aboriginal proverb

“In nature, materials are expensive and shape is cheap.” – Julian Vincent

Vincent’s quote is in complete contrast to how our design and construction industry works today, using an array of energy-intensive and toxic materials in very inefficient ways. Nature places its materials where it’s required to achieve maximum structural performance with the least amount of resources and this approach offers competitive advantages to those organisms that can optimise their resource use.

Redundancy does not exist in nature. As our world becomes more urbanised, we will start to see resource scarcity as a driver for higher prices in construction materials alongside environmental and health impacts of materials. There is a great deal to improve in our archaic construction industry and so we must look to nature as a source of good ideas rather than a limitless warehouse of goods.