Peripheral Journeys: mapping unbuilt spaces in the European city

Dr Alona Martinez Perez is a Senior Lecturer at the Leicester School of Architecture, De Montfort University with qualifications in both architecture and urban design. Originally from Bilbao, Spain, she trained as an architect in England and Scotland. She completed her PhD titled ‘The Architecture of the Periphery’ at the University of Sheffield with a focus on the theory of the periphery in the European city, using a case study in Madrid.

Previous roles include Lecturer in Architecture at Plymouth University (2013-2017), Lecturer in Placemaking at the University of Ulster (2009-2013), tutor for architecture at the University of Dundee and Research Director at the Geddes Institute for the project of cities and regions (where she is currently a fellow).

She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design, a Master of Science in Urban Design from Edinburgh College of Art, and a degree in Architecture from Huddersfield University. She has been a visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg since July 2017 working on peripheral development and de-colonisation, a visiting Professor at the University of Trento, and has taught as a visiting lecturer at Edinburgh University, a visiting Professor at the New York Institute of Technology, and University of Pescara and University Federico II LUPT.

She has written extensively at international level and has published in Domus, Urbanistica, the Journal of Urban Design, and presented her work at the Venice Biennale. Her most recent work looks at the relationship between urbanism and speculation with particular emphasis on urban peripheries and the work of Aldo Rossi.

The lecture will take place in the Urban Design Studio at the UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy.