Research Fellow
Giamila has responsibility for supporting the development of research projects, the generation of related outputs and the preparation of collaborative bids for external research funding. Her teaching and research interests relate to the relationship between dwelling patterns and appropriate technologies in context-specific approaches to architectural design, with a focus on the contemporary architecture of Australia.
Projects
2010-2011, Nottingham Trent University. Project Coordinator, with Professor Soumyen Bandyopadhyay (Principal Investigator). Towards comparative HMPs and appropriate HMP guidelines of two oasis settlements in Central Oman.
2010-2011, Muscat Municipality. Project Coordinator, with Professor Soumyen Bandyopadhyay (Principal Investigator). Towards the training and coordination of a group of graduates from the Oman Technical College for the documentation of six oasis settlements in the Muscat Region, Oman.
Architectural Design and Global Difference
Low-environmental impact building envelope
An investigation into the low-environmental impact building envelope, which employs traditional and innovative eco-friendly materials as well as agricultural and industrial wastes, started with a design project aimed at the salvaging and reuse of buildings, components and materials for the regeneration of an energy and socially efficient rural urban settlement in Reggio Calabria, Italy.
A recent study on the compatibility of natural hydrated lime with hemp fibres has been sponsored by FASSA BORTOLO, Italian leading manufacturer of building products, followed by an exhibition on the experimental application of a lime-hemp conglomerate in the Mediterranean area.
Contemporary Regionalist Architecture
The 2004 Glenn Murcutt Master Class and the 2006 Endeavour Europe Awards (Australian Government - DEST Department of Education, Science and Training), carried out at the University of Newcastle, Australia, School of Architecture and Built Environment, have given the opportunity to examine the environmental, social and cultural sustainability issues underlying Critical Regionalism through the study of the design culture and works of Australian architects Glenn Murcutt, Richard Leplastrier, Gregory Burgess, Troppo Architects and Peter Stutchbury.
Key areas of interest:
- settlement/dwelling patterns and building techniques
- human behaviours/socio-cultural values and the built environment
- communities and technical skills
- innovation and tradition
- design and build participatory processes.
Conservation and Rehabilitation
An interest in sustainable conservation and adaptive reuse of buildings has developed by tutoring for the Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Diagnosis and Repair of Buildings (EMDiReB) and teaching Architectural Technology within 5th year Design Studio in Restoration. Furthermore, a few research missions conducted in traditional towns of Southern Tunisia have started Giamila’s academic interest in the exploration of the effects of cultural, social and economic transformation processes determined by modernization on the settlement patterns of Islamic traditional oasis towns and their construction techniques.
