Célia Correia Macedo
I am a researcher, architect and development practitioner specialised in urban issues, sustainability and international development, with focus on the Global South. My experience includes more than ten years of research and practice in academia, industry and the NGO sector, focused on social architecture and sustainable built environment.
I studied architecture in Lisbon, having completed my licentiate degree in 2005 and my professional training and accreditation in the following year.
I moved to the UK in 2007 and in 2009 I completed an MSc in Energy Efficient and Sustainable Building at Oxford Brookes University, during which I developed an in-depth and holistic rich base of knowledge of social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of energy efficiency and sustainability in general and applied to the built environment. My thesis was entitled "Environmental Impact and energy efficiency of contemporary earthen architecture in Portugal" and was awarded Distinction.
In 2017 I have completed a PhD in Architecture. The research was entitled "A dream-house for Luanda's low-income population: Perceptions, aspirations and reality assessed through a participatory Post-Occupancy Assessment framework".
For my PhD I have designed and implemented a qualitative-based research strategy based on a Post-Occupancy Evaluation framework, which aimed to shed light into people's appropriation of space in an informal settlement and within a mass-housing context of Luanda. A technical and social sciences based approach which also created knowledge around the wider process of socio-spatial urban transformation in a capital of the Global-South. This included a period of fieldwork in the informal settlements of Luanda as well as interaction and collaboration and with local stakeholders and communities.
As an associate at Architecture Sans Frontières-UK (ASF-UK) since 2014, I developed and coordinated various international projects and gained extensive hands-on experience with participatory design strategies in social sector projects and programmes with vulnerable communities in Ghana, Angola, Colombia, South Africa and Nepal. In such contexts, I worked within multi-disciplinary environments in which community resilience and sustainability took the centre stage.
In 2017 I joined The University of Sheffield to work in The Sheffield School of Architecture (SSoA) and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (USP).
As a research Associate at USP, I am involved in a project that aims to foster the engagement with academic institutions in South Africa through the development and delivery of responsive and adequate research training packages to current and future doctoral students of the partner institutions (the University of Sheffield and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa).
At the School of Architecture I was involved in the MA in Urban Design as a course coordinator (Maternity leave) and leader in the thesis module.
Address: Sheffield, United Kingdom
I studied architecture in Lisbon, having completed my licentiate degree in 2005 and my professional training and accreditation in the following year.
I moved to the UK in 2007 and in 2009 I completed an MSc in Energy Efficient and Sustainable Building at Oxford Brookes University, during which I developed an in-depth and holistic rich base of knowledge of social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of energy efficiency and sustainability in general and applied to the built environment. My thesis was entitled "Environmental Impact and energy efficiency of contemporary earthen architecture in Portugal" and was awarded Distinction.
In 2017 I have completed a PhD in Architecture. The research was entitled "A dream-house for Luanda's low-income population: Perceptions, aspirations and reality assessed through a participatory Post-Occupancy Assessment framework".
For my PhD I have designed and implemented a qualitative-based research strategy based on a Post-Occupancy Evaluation framework, which aimed to shed light into people's appropriation of space in an informal settlement and within a mass-housing context of Luanda. A technical and social sciences based approach which also created knowledge around the wider process of socio-spatial urban transformation in a capital of the Global-South. This included a period of fieldwork in the informal settlements of Luanda as well as interaction and collaboration and with local stakeholders and communities.
As an associate at Architecture Sans Frontières-UK (ASF-UK) since 2014, I developed and coordinated various international projects and gained extensive hands-on experience with participatory design strategies in social sector projects and programmes with vulnerable communities in Ghana, Angola, Colombia, South Africa and Nepal. In such contexts, I worked within multi-disciplinary environments in which community resilience and sustainability took the centre stage.
In 2017 I joined The University of Sheffield to work in The Sheffield School of Architecture (SSoA) and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (USP).
As a research Associate at USP, I am involved in a project that aims to foster the engagement with academic institutions in South Africa through the development and delivery of responsive and adequate research training packages to current and future doctoral students of the partner institutions (the University of Sheffield and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa).
At the School of Architecture I was involved in the MA in Urban Design as a course coordinator (Maternity leave) and leader in the thesis module.
Address: Sheffield, United Kingdom
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Papers by Célia Correia Macedo
As far as the evolution of the urban built environment is concerned, Angola’s background does not differ significantly from that of other former colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst under a colonial rule which endured for roughly five centuries, Angola was subject to a profound reinterpretation of the essence of its built environment, regardless of the country’s established architectural traditions. New concepts of space, mainly influenced by acclaimed European models, were gradually introduced all over the country but especially in urban areas. Entire cities were thus designed and built from scratch, composed of massive buildings framed by large avenues and orthogonally organized streets, as opposed to the earlier confusing arrangement of apparently fragile settlements. Over the years, these thriving cities became points of attraction to many thousands of people arriving from Europe as well as from different parts of Angola, generally seeking a better life. The demographic patterns, mainly characterized by rural-urban movements, were further enhanced during civil war, subsequent to the independence from Portugal in 1975. This caused further densification in the existing urban fabric, and the physical expansion of Angola’s major cities until exhaustion. Today Angola is a country of deep social inequalities, where one of the most expensive cities in the world is built side by side with endless sprawl of informal occupation and extreme poverty. With urban development not showing signs of stabilising, the issues associated with lack of housing and urban-poverty are a difficult reality for many. In a time when sustainable development is a global issue, the question of how Angola will be able to mitigate the acute housing shortage arises as one in urgent need of an answer.
According to the Koppen Climate Classification, the region holds a temperate
climate with dry and/or hot summer (Csa) (AAVV, 2011).
The building consists in an art studio, designed by architect Alexandre Bastos.
The performance of the buildings was analysed as part of the MSc Thesis of
Macedo (2009). Its selection was based upon the uniformity of the rammed
earth, and the climate conditions of the region. In order to assess its thermal
performance and environmental impact, the methodology adopted combined
a triangulation of methods, encompassing in situ measurements, occupancy
surveys and simulation. The analysis of the results acknowledges the thermal
inertia of earthen walls, most effective in providing comfortable indoor temperatures
during the warmer periods of the year, and when combined with
night cooling ventilation, conclusions which are supported by the occupancy
surveys. During colder periods, the values recorded with no auxiliary heating
system, revealed inferior to comfort levels (Macedo & Chandiwala, 2010).
As far as the evolution of the urban built environment is concerned, Angola’s background does not differ significantly from that of other former colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst under a colonial rule which endured for roughly five centuries, Angola was subject to a profound reinterpretation of the essence of its built environment, regardless of the country’s established architectural traditions. New concepts of space, mainly influenced by acclaimed European models, were gradually introduced all over the country but especially in urban areas. Entire cities were thus designed and built from scratch, composed of massive buildings framed by large avenues and orthogonally organized streets, as opposed to the earlier confusing arrangement of apparently fragile settlements. Over the years, these thriving cities became points of attraction to many thousands of people arriving from Europe as well as from different parts of Angola, generally seeking a better life. The demographic patterns, mainly characterized by rural-urban movements, were further enhanced during civil war, subsequent to the independence from Portugal in 1975. This caused further densification in the existing urban fabric, and the physical expansion of Angola’s major cities until exhaustion. Today Angola is a country of deep social inequalities, where one of the most expensive cities in the world is built side by side with endless sprawl of informal occupation and extreme poverty. With urban development not showing signs of stabilising, the issues associated with lack of housing and urban-poverty are a difficult reality for many. In a time when sustainable development is a global issue, the question of how Angola will be able to mitigate the acute housing shortage arises as one in urgent need of an answer.
According to the Koppen Climate Classification, the region holds a temperate
climate with dry and/or hot summer (Csa) (AAVV, 2011).
The building consists in an art studio, designed by architect Alexandre Bastos.
The performance of the buildings was analysed as part of the MSc Thesis of
Macedo (2009). Its selection was based upon the uniformity of the rammed
earth, and the climate conditions of the region. In order to assess its thermal
performance and environmental impact, the methodology adopted combined
a triangulation of methods, encompassing in situ measurements, occupancy
surveys and simulation. The analysis of the results acknowledges the thermal
inertia of earthen walls, most effective in providing comfortable indoor temperatures
during the warmer periods of the year, and when combined with
night cooling ventilation, conclusions which are supported by the occupancy
surveys. During colder periods, the values recorded with no auxiliary heating
system, revealed inferior to comfort levels (Macedo & Chandiwala, 2010).