I am an early career researcher with a BA(Hons) in Architecture, specialising in educational spaces, play and children’s environments. I recently completed my PhD at Northumbria University, exploring play in the public space. Previously, I undertook a MA in ‘Designing Learning Environments’ from the University of Sheffield with a focus on children’s environments and participatory design. I joined Newcastle University as a teaching assistant in October 2020 and since January 2021 I have been a research associate in the project: ‘At Home with Children: Liveable Space for the COVID-19 challenge’.

I am a Research Associate in the project: ‘At Home with Children: Liveable Space for the COVID-19 challenge’. The project is funded by the UKRI/AHRC Covid-19 Rapid Response call and explores what ‘liveable’ domestic space means for families with children, under pandemic conditions.

My research interests focus on the social aspects of architecture, and more specifically participatory design, children’s geographies, children’s play in the city, educational spaces, informal learning environments, ethnography, playful cities, public space, critical geography, everyday spaces of representation, spatial power relations as well as forms of resistance and re-appropriation of the city. My PhD, entitled: ‘The boundaries of heterotopia in a landscape of crisis. Examining the playground’s ‘public value’ in contemporary Athens,’ employed the theoretical framework of Heterotopias to explore play in the public space and address the ways the playground space supported alternate orderings and appropriation of its surrounding public space. During my MA, I explored the playground space as a place of intergenerational interaction. I have facilitated architectural workshops with children as part of Northumbria University’s Stem program while in 2014 I designed and facilitated participatory design workshops with school children in Athens, Greece. I have presented my research and participated in various workshops and conferences in the areas of Architecture, Anthropology, Geography and Education and I have published my research exploring children’s geographies and play in the urban space. I have also worked as a research assistant in various research projects in Newcastle, Northumbria and Durham Universities.

I currently teach on the stage 3 module 'ARC3060: Dissertation in Architectural studies' leading the Playful Cities elective. I have also taught on the stage 2 module ‘ARC2020 Dissertation Studies and Research Methods’ and the MArch module 'ARC8051 Tools for Thinking about Architecture'. Previously, I taught at Northumbria University on Year 1 'Architectural Design Studio', 'Introduction to Environmental and Constructional Design' and 'Introduction to Architectural Communications' modules. Alongside my teaching, I have participated as a reviewer in the studio presentations on multiple occasions. The notions of participation, inclusion and engagement run through my work and inform both my research and teaching practice. In my teaching I engage with students in a dialogical relation using research-led teaching and experience-learning methods while facilitating critical thinking. I am an Associate Fellow in HE.

• Pitsikali A, Parnell R. Fences of Childhood: Challenging the Meaning of Playground Boundaries in Design. Frontiers in Architectural Research 2020, 9(3), 656-669.
• Pitsikali A, Parnell R, McIntyre L. The public value of child-friendly space: Re-conceptualising the playground. Archnet-IJAR 2020, 14(2), 149-165.
• Pitsikali A, Parnell R. The public playground paradox: ‘child’s joy’ or heterotopia of fear?. Children's Geographies 2019, 17(6), 719-731.
• Pitsikali A. Examining the playground as a civic space through the lens of play. Journal of Playwork Practice 2015, 2(1), 45-59.