Research leaders
Fransje Hooimeijer
Urbanism
Fransje Hooimeijer studied Architecture at the Willem de Kooning Academy and Arts and Culture Studies in Rotterdam Erasmus University. Since 1997 she works as an independent researcher in the fields of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. In addition to various publications and exhibits, she has done research for governments and corporate clients. She received her PhD in Urbanism from the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology in 2011 with the dissertation investigating the relation between water management and urban design. From 2009-2012, she has worked as a researcher at the TU Delft and at TNO, investigating the technology of urban development in the light of climate change and the energy transition. One of her main research topics is integrating the subsurface system into above-ground spatial development. Since 2012 continuing research and teaching at TU Delft into system integration of technical systems of urban development in national and international context. She is specialised in interdisciplinary design processes, methods, tools and theory, transferring this to students and practice.
Luca Iurio
Urbanism
I graduated in architecture from Iuav University of Venice, where I also obtained the doctorate in urbanism. I am currently an assistant professor in the faculty of architecture and the built environment of TU Delft in the department of urbanism, section of environmental technology and design
My academic work spans from the study of the territorial dimension of engineering infrastructures to the design of spatial interventions to adapt to climate change. I am interested in understanding and explaining how technology affects our society and shapes the places where we live.
Recently, I have been focusing on coastal areas and deltaic systems doing interdisciplinary research and design in relation to the water and flood protection infrastructure. Physical modeling, scenario making, ethnographic fieldworks, archival research and site-specific designs are the main tools, methodologies and outputs I support to scientifically develop climate adaptation projects.
Program members
Diego Sepulveda Carmona
Urbanism
D.A.SepulvedaCarmona@tudelft.nl
Diego is a designer and urban planner. He possesses professional and research experiences on infrastructural development and socio spatial, socio-environmental integration with special interest into fast transformative economies and the integration of the changing socio environmental dynamics. The emphasis of his work is on the interrelation between spatial planning,spatial and environmental structures.
His particular interest in regional development and its design is on the conditions for integration of the local levels on the Metropolization processes. Lately His work is defined on how to integrate the climate change adaptation-(actors and systems as complex adaptive systems) within a developing and transformative context.
I am interested into the operability of socio environmental justice.
This with the search of alignment of people’s interest and values, planning frameworks, spatial and time scales of complex adaptive systems through explorative design (intersectoral and inter scalar). Aspects as socio cultural approaches, environmental based adaptation, Informality and metropolization.
Francesca Rizzetto
Urbanism
Francesca is an architect by education and urban designer with more than 10 years of experience in practice, from regional planning to urban design, from self-promoted studies to public commissions. Since her graduation she has been involved in several education and research programs at TUDelft. In her projects and teaching, she inquires the liaison among the imbalance of politics, economics, polluted landscape and built environment. Her current work focuses on situated forms of urban design related to environmental fragility from large scale to micro public space, from public decision to private actions. From 2016 she is freelancing for urban planning offices in Italian and Dutch municipalities, and for private commissions, at the architectural scale. Within Studio for New Realities, she has led the urbanism team working among other projects at the Districts Regeneration Framework of Glasgow and ‘A tot Z’ urban strategy for the eastside of Rotterdam, (from Alexander to Zuidplein). In 2008 she has co-founded UNLAB, with whom, among other projects have worked at the General Local Plan of the great Tirana (Albania). She is currently covering the position of researcher in the project of Redesigning Deltas at TUDelft, in her research she focuses on space, ecology, culture, and politics in the design and planning of critical and highly dynamic landscapes with a lens on the relationship between practices and academic’s projects in the fragile and complex territory of the Delta.
Marcin Dąbrowski
Urbanism
Marcin Dąbrowski teaches and researches spatial planning and (multi-level) governance issues related to sustainable urban and regional futures. His recent work explores questions of integration of flood risk management with spatial planning, policy transfer, stakeholder engagement in water-linked heritage valorisation policies, co-design of territorial circular economy strategies, participatory carbon-neutrality experimentation in cities and engagement of marginalised communities in just sustainability transitions
Dr.ir. Inge Bobbink,
Landscape Architecture
Inge Bobbink focuses on landscape architectonic design with a particular interest in the relation between water and land, including flora, fauna, and people. In her work, she explicitly stresses the importance of form and composition as an expression of culture and identity. Four perspectives on the analysis and design of (urban)water landscapes form the backbone of the research: (urban)landscape perception, (urban)landscape as a palimpsest, (urban)landscape as scale continuum and (urban)landscape as an ecological, economic and social process. She develops research methods to analyse traditional water systems and elements that are deeply rooted in the landscape and linked to human activities, focussing on its circularity and beauty. The results of this research form a theory that helps to transform today’s water systems into circular (integral, sustainable) water systems — an inclusive, tangible space for all.
Juliana E. Goncalves
Urbanism
Dr. Juliana Goncalves is an Assistant Professor in the section of Spatial Planning and Strategy, Department of Urbanism, TU Delft. She is also the co-director of the Centre for Urban Science (CUSP), a member of the Delta Urbanism Interdisciplinary Research Program, and a member of the Climate Action Program at TU Delft. She has an interdisciplinary background with expertise in socio-technical systems, urban data science, and policy analysis. Her research interests include urban inequalities & spatial justice, climate change adaptation & urban resilience, energy transition, public participation & citizen empowerment, and related planning and policy implications. She looks at these questions from a socio-spatial intersectional perspective, often combining quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Irene Luque Martin
Urbanism
i.luquemartin@tudelft.nl
I have worked at the convergence of academia and practice since the beginning of my career through the combination of research projects and design projects in the realm of consultancy and spatial design thinking. I hold a PhD in Collaborative and Innovative design processes coming from the University of Seville together with international collaboration with the University of Amsterdam. This is combined with more than ten years of experience in leading and coordinating urban planning and urban design through research-by-design (RbD) projects with a strong focus on vulnerable territories in rapid transition. At TU Delft, specifically through the Urban Design section and the Redesigning Deltas movement, I aim to focus on accelerating practice towards leveraging RbD as an actual alternative to conventional practices in Delta transformations. To do so, my research focuses on understanding the value, the role, and the business case in diverse international cases of delta transformation.
Daniele Cannatella is an Assistant Professor specializing in Urban Data for Design with a focus on Sustainable Development. With a pragmatic approach to urban planning, he combines data-driven insights and design principles to address real-world challenges in sustainable urban development. Cannatella’s work revolves around integrating data analytics into urban planning processes to create more efficient and environmentally-friendly cities. His contributions to the field highlight his commitment to practical solutions that can enhance the quality of urban life and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Post-doc Researcher
Sophia Arbara
Urbanism
Sophia is an architect and urban designer. She has worked across the fields of urban design, mobility and cultural heritage studies aiming to address socio-ecological challenges and unveil both familiar and untold narratives through spatial approaches. As a post-doctoral researcher in the Delta Urbanism program, she focuses on food systems as spatial agents in the shaping of territorial and local dynamics in deltaic areas. Sophia has completed her Phd at Roma Tre University (Italy) and engaged in teaching and research activities at UC Berkeley (US) and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil). Previously, she worked as an architect and urban designer in the Netherlands, Greece, and Spain. She holds a Master´s in Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens and a Master´s in Urban Design from the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley.
Elena Longin
Urbanism
ELENA LONGHIN works between architecture, urbanism, and political ecology. PhD in Urbanism, she is a registered architect (OAPCC Venice/ARB London) and a post-doc research fellow at TUDelft, part of the Delta Urbanism group and the Redesigning Deltas research programme. She is an executive member of the Habitat Research Centre (HRC) at EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland, where she focuses on the Landscape Habitat research field and manages the Campus in Transition – Living Lab Grants projects. Since 2016, she leads the Architectural Association VS Terrain Lab, a research and educational platform investigating the spatial palimpsests of the Anthropocene. Prior to joining the Urban Design section of TUDelft, she was Unit Master at AA Intermediate School, tutor in the postgraduate Landscape Urbanism Programme, as well as in various international Visiting Schools worldwide, and taught at the IUAV University of Venice, Italy.
Elena develops projects at the intersection of architecture, landscape, and urbanism in diverse contexts, exploring the idea of a spatial practice that recognises the inherently conflicting dynamics that drive human occupation, whether urban or remote. Her current work explores the systemic understanding of land (onshore and offshore rare earth mining dynamics), scarcity, depletion, extremes, and complexity, focusing on materiality, fluidity and raw resources exploited on land and sea, to draw out latent relationships across scales, addressing intensifying social injustice and ecological crisis.
PhD Researchers
Sarah Calitz
Architecture in (post)mining environments
I am an educator and researcher with an interest in the crosscultural frictions, collaborations, and negotiations that produce and circulate architectural knowledge
Introducing Serah Calitz, a researcher specializing in the study of crosscultural dynamics within the architectural realm. Her work delves into the practical frictions, collaborations, and complex negotiations that underpin the evolution of architectural knowledge. With a keen focus on real-world applications, Calitz explores how cultural interactions shape the built environment, offering valuable insights that resonate with architects, builders, and communities alike. In her pursuit, she unveils the tangible impact of crosscultural exchanges, making her research not just academically significant but also profoundly relevant to the everyday world of architecture.
Isabel Recubenis Sanchis
Urbanism
Arch. Ir. Isabel Recubenis Sanchis is an architect, urban designer and researcher. She holds a B.Sc and a M.Sc. in Architecture by the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In 2020 she completed her second Master in Urbanism at TU Delft with an annotation in Infrastructure and Environment Design. Her interest lies at the intersection between urbanism, ecology and infrastructure in regards to the design and planning of critical territories. Over the past years she has worked on the topic both in practice and academia as part of Delta Urbanism Research Group in TUDelft. Currently She is a PhD candidate in TU Delft focusing on the Longue Duree of WEF in post-extraction landscapes in South Africa.
Boaz Peters
Urbanism
b.a.peters-1@tudelft.nl
Boaz Peters is an urban designer, researcher, and filmmaker specializing in the nexus of urbanism, justice, and ecology. His work explores expanded territoriality and the transient dynamics of space, politics, ecology, and culture. Holding MSc and BSc degrees from TU Delft, his thesis, Confronting the Norwegian Paradox, investigated socio-territorial tensions between Sámi communities and oil industry expansion in Arctic Norway. As part of this, he co-directed Northbound (2019), showcased at festivals such as the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (AFFR). Currently, he is a PhD candidate within the RUGBIS project, focusing on bridging exogenous and endogenous knowledge in green-blue infrastructure research and design in low- and middle-income countries, fostering holistic and contextual solutions to pressing urban challenges.
Laura Thomas
Urbanism
Laura Thomas is a PhD candidate at Delft University of Technology, where she focuses on integrating soil knowledge into spatial planning and design through her work in the European SPADES (Spatial Planning and Design with Soil) project. Before pursuing her PhD, Laura was an urban designer at PosadMaxwan, an office for urban design and strategy in The Hague. Building on her practical experience, Laura’s research aims to bridge the gap between academic research on soil and spatial planning and design, and spatial planning and design practice.
Barbara Dal Bo Zanon
Environmental Technology and Design
I am an architect and researcher with over a decade of experience in water-based urban development, spanning both commercial and research projects. Currently, I am a PhD student within the Floating Future project at TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urbanism (2024–present). My research focuses on the challenges of scaling up floating developments, approached through an urban design lens with a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary integration. Alongside my PhD research, I work as a senior architect at Blue21 (formerly Deltasync), a Dutch consultancy firm specializing in floating urban development. Since 2011, I have contributed to innovative research projects such as FloodProBE and Space@Sea. I hold a MSc in Architecture for Sustainability from IUAV (Venice, 2010).
ir. Tara Kanj
Environmental Technology and Design
t.kanj@tudelft.nl
I am a PhD candidate in the Environmental Design and Technology Department, Urbanism, at TU Delft. My research focuses on the spatial design of future deltaic systems, with a particular interest in the intersection of coastal morphodynamics and spatial design. I explore how land-water interactions shape resilient design strategies and am especially focused on bridging technocratic disciplines, such as hydraulic engineering and mathematics, with spatial design to program robust coastal and deltaic landscapes.
Sridhar Subramani
Urbanism
s.subramani@tudelft.nl
Sridhar Subramani is a PhD candidate at Delft University of Technology. He focuses on integrating dynamic floating solutions to improve urban performance through multi-agent modeling. In addition to his academic pursuits, he collaborates with Waterstudio.nl, contributing to research and computational design for floating solutions. His research aims to bridge the gap between adaptive spatial planning and urban resilience in addressing water-related challenges.