Positioning Research and Design in Academia and Practice: A Contribution to a Continuing Debate

Marijn van de Weijer studied Architecture at Eindhoven University of Technology and Urbanism at KU Leuven. He is currently a PhD candidate at KU Leuven and at Hasselt University. He has practiced as a designer on architectural and urban design competitions and projects before starting his PhD research in 2010. His research addresses housing and the residential environment in Flanders, with a focus on design strategies in light of changing demographical, economical, and ecological circumstances.

Koenraad Van Cleempoel studied Art History in Leuven, Madrid and London, where he obtained his PhD at the Warburg Institute. Since 2005, he has been engaged in establishing and directing a research unit in interior architecture at Hasselt University (Belgium). He supervises several PhD students of interior architecture working on aspects of re-use and research by design. He has published in several journals including Journal of Interior Design, Interiors Journal, and The Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. Oxford University Press published his book, Astrolabes at Greenwich: A Catalogue of the Astrolabes in the National Maritime Museum.

Hilde Heynen is Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture, KU Leuven–University of Leuven. Her research focuses on issues of modernity, modernism and gender in architecture. She authored Architecture and Modernity: A Critique, and is co-editor of several books: Back from Utopia: The Challenge of the Modern Movement, Negotiating Domesticity: Spatial Productions of Gender in Modern Architecture, and The SAGE Handbook of Architectural Theory. She regularly publishes in journals such as The Journal of Architecture and Home Cultures.