Newcastle University

Introduction

All too often, architecture is conceptualised as either a problem of style alone, only a technical problem or as simply a consumer object. While architecture may be made of all three, it is much more besides. It is the richness of architecture, particularly its social dimension and the possibilities of form as content, that most interest me. Architecture, as far as I see it, comprises rooms in one direction and cities and land in the other, while of course including buildings as well. Architecture is made up of the multitude of problems that define it, including theory, practice, form, function, and meaning; and of course building technologies and material assemblies as well, not to mention economics. However, it seems to me that the social dimension of architecture is too easily neglected, which is precisely why Utopia is of such interest to me.

Background

PhD, University of Pennsylvania; MSc in Architecture, University of Pennsylvania; Master of Urban Planning, City College of New York Program in Urban Design; Bachelor of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design; Bachelor of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design. Architectural Practice in New York City and Rome Italy, including with the Firms of Eisenman/Robertson and Hardy Holzman Pfieffer.

Qualifications

Doctor of Philoisophy in Architecture
Master of Science in Architecture
Master of Urban Planning (Program in Urban Design)
Bachelor of Architecture
Bachelor of Fine Arts
New York State Licensed Architecture

Previous Positions

Washington State Univerrsity
Boston Architectural College
Northeastern University
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Philadelphia University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Washington Rome Center

Memberships

Utopian Studies Society (Europe)
SUS (Society for Utopian Studies, USA)
SAH (Society of Architectural Historian, USA)
SAHGB (Society of Architectural Historian, Great Britain)

Honours and Awards

British Academy Scholar, 2003, 2004 and 2007
Graham Foundation Grant Recipient, 2004
School Research Committee Funding, 2003 - 2011
Faculty Arts and Humanities Research Fund Award,2003

Languages

Italian

Research Interests

Design Theories and Methodologies
Social Dimensions of Architecture
Utopian Theories and Practices
Architectural History, Theory and Criticism
Architectural Experience

Other Expertise

Urban Design
Fine Arts
Design Pedagogy
Ethics and Aesthetics
Psychoanalysis

Current Work

After having recently published the edited book,Imagining and Making the World: reconsidering architecture and utopia, Ralahine Utopian Studies Volume Eight (Peter Lang, 2011), and submitting an article on Lefebvre and Utopia for publication, as well as sending several more articles out for review, I have begun to work on an article considering the problematic of interpretation for architecture and am also working on Lefebvre for Architects (anticipated 2013), as part of the Routledge series, Thinkers for Architects. I am also working on a proposal for a subsequent book on material thinking in architecture. Additionally, I have been invited to lead a working group on Architecture and Utopia associated with both the North American Society for Utopian Studies and the European Utopian Studies Society. The invitation to lead this working group is further confirmation of my international standing within the field of Utopian Studies as one of the key researchers working on Utopia and architecture, which my edited book Imagining and Making the World: reconsidering architecture and utopia, and my individually authored book Utopias and Architecture (Routledge, UK, 2005) have contributed to establishing.

Future Research

I have been working on high-value research grant proposals for submission to the Research Councils or other funding bodies over the last couple of years, and will continue doing so. Longer term plans for future research include completing 2-3 further journal articles during the next year, and developing on my ongoing work on architecture and utopia.

Research Roles

As the bulk of my research is humanities based in a fairly traditional sense, to date, I have been the principal investigator on all of my projects. As a result, I have also been the sole author of each of my outputs. Nevertheless, I am now looking to develop a number of more collaborative projects that could effectively draw upon the interdisciplinary nature of my research.

Postgraduate Supervision

Meaning and Architecture
Architecture and Society
The Social Dimension of Architecture
Architecture and the City
Utopias and Architecture
History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture

Esteem Indicators

• This coming October 2011, I lead a Masterclass on Architecture and Utopia at the North American Society for Utopian Studies Annual Conference. http://www.utoronto.ca/utopia/download/Penn_State_Utopia-Architecture_Master_Class.pdf
• At the same conference, I acted as respondent to a roundtable panel organised around my recently published edited book, Imagining and Making the World, reconsidering architecture and Utopia.
• During the same period, I presented a public lecture on the topic of Architecture and Utopia at Penn State University, in State College PA, where the conference was held. 
• In July 2011, I was respondent to a roundtable panel organised around my recently published edited book, Imagining and Making the World, reconsidering architecture and Utopia at the European Utopian Studies Society annual conference. http://cyprusconferences.org/uss2011/uploads/Nicosia_Utopia-Architecture%20Master%20Class.pdf           
• Invited presenter at Design Event Presents PechaKucha Volume 6, in assoication with Northern Architecture and NEPA (09 June 2011).         
• Invited Participant / Speaker at the final seminar of the ESRC Seminar Series: Practical Utopias and Utopian Practices, dedicated to Space (24 March 2009)
• Book proposal referee for Routledge, UK
• Over the past several years I have refereed article submissions for the following journals: International Journal of Art  & Design Education, ARQ, CITIES, Surveillance & Society, Landscape Research, and Planning Theory.
• Peer Reviewer of AHRC Small Grants scheme
• Three time British Academy Grant Holder
• Graham Foundation Grant holder.

Funding

British Academy
British Academy
British Academy
British Academy
Graham Foundation
School Research Committee
School Research Committee

Industrial Relevance

Areas of research and outputs have direct relevance to the design and realisation of a higher quality more humane built environment, at the scale of the room, building and city.

Keywords

Architecture and Utopia                                                                                                                          Architecture and the City
Architecture and Urban Design
History, Theory and Practise of Architecture
Place Making
Sustainable Communities
Utopia and Architectural Invention

Undergraduate Teaching

BA Dissertation Supervisor
BARCH Dissertation Supervisor
BA, ARC2011: 20th Century Architecture

Postgraduate Teaching

MPhil Supervisor
PhD Supervisor
BARCH, ARC5022: Social Mapping/Master Planning
MAUD, ARC8040: Contemporary Issues in Urban Design

• Coleman N, ed. Imagining and making the world: reconsidering architecture and utopia. Oxford and Bern: Peter Lang, 2011.
• Coleman N. Utopias and Architecture. London: Routledge, 2005.
• Coleman N. Extraordinarily Real: Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Promise of Modern Architecture. In: Sanda Iliescu, ed. The Hand and the Soul, Aesthetics and Ethics in Architecture and Art. Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp.116-134.
• Coleman N. Siting lives: Postwar place-making. In: Menin, S, ed. Constructing Place: Mind and Matter. London, UK: Routledge, 2003, pp.205-216.
• Coleman N. Lin, Z., 'Kenzo Tange and the Metabolist movement: urban utopias of modern Japan', London: Routledge, 2010. Planning Perspectives 2012, 27(1), 158-159.
• Coleman N. The Limits of Professional Architectural Education. International Journal of Art & Design Education 2010, 29(2), 200-212.
• Coleman N. Elusive Interpretations. Cloud-Cuckoo-Land: International Journal of Architectural Theory 2008, 12(2), -.
• Coleman N. Building Dystopia. Rivista MORUS - Utopia e Renascimento (Brasile) 2007, (4), 181-192.
• Coleman N. Words of Desire: Envisaging Architecture. Interfaces 2004, 24(1), 183-199.
• Coleman N. History Theory Design: a pedagogy of persuasion. Architectureal Research Quarterly (ARQ) 2003, 7(3-4), 353-360.
• Coleman N. Forming Expressions: Abstract Reality and Surrealism. In: 91st ACSA International Conference, Contribution and Confusion: Architecture and the Influence of Other Fields of Inquiry. 2003, Helsinki, Finland: ACSA.
• Coleman N. Transcending Limitations: Post War Possibilities. In: ACSA Northeast Regional Meeting. 2002, Montréal, Canada.
• Coleman N. Listening to the Past: Persuasive Stories and the Beginning Design Student. In: 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student. 2002, Portland, Oregon, USA.
• Coleman N. Fuller's Technological Utopianism is No Utopia. In: 89th ACSA Annual National Meeting. 2001.
• Coleman N. Borderlands: The Paradoxes of Place and Discipline. In: ACSA West Regional Meeting. 2001, Bozeman, Montana, USA.