Vita
Since March 2020, I have been a scientific staff member in the Theory and History of Modern Architecture Deartment at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. I work in the broader field of architectural history and theory, systems research and design methods. In my research and teaching, I focus on the complex interrelationships between ecological issues and questions of technology.
I completed my Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong on the topic Architectures of Coevolution: Second-order Cybernetics and Architectural Theories of the Environment, c.1959-2013 (2017), in which I explored the emergence of an alternative modern ecological discourse. My work was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Fellowship and supervised by professors from the University of Hong Kong (Prof. Eunice Seng) and the Technical University of Delft (Prof. Arie Graafland). Since then I have been expanding my research on complex systems, ecology and design through various research projects.
Since 2018, I have been establishing an experimental design practice focussing on how design research can help to find better ways of dealing with the complexity of design problems. While all design problems are understood as »wicked problems«, I focus on systems characterised by structural instabilities, or systems in crisis, where this wickedness (»mess«) is most visible. In this context, »mess« also acts as a word which describes »difference« in a broader sense. »Differences« then appear as contradictions or paradoxes that are rejected by many; this in turn hinders individuals in their search for creative solutions. My work suggests that a renewed understanding of »play« can contribute to a productive understanding of said »differences«. Experimental research projects such as Fun Machines (2018), Institute of Utmost Environmental Justice (2019) and After Work (2021) are part of this project. Based on the developing research, I am currently working on a book with the working title Mess and Method. In 2021 I was awarded the Heinz von Foerster Award by the American Society for Cybernetics.
Outside Germany, I have worked on research and teaching projects in various countries such as Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Myanmar, New Zealand and the Netherlands. I am an external research member of the Prototyping Social Forms research group at the Synthesis Center Arizona State University, a fellow member of the Cybernetics Society Great Britain (CybSoc), a member of the Systemic Design Association (SDA), the Cumulus Association and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), and also a member of the editorial board of the Delft Architecture Theory Journal FOOTPRINT, in addition to other honorary memberships in Germany and my home country of Sri Lanka.