Dr Tanja Poppelreuter

School of Science, Engineering & Environment

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Current positions

Associate Professor/Reader

Biography

Tanja Poppelreuter is an Associated Professor in Architectural Humanities and director of Postgraduate Research Studies in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment at the University of Salford, Manchester. Her research interests lie in the field of 20th-century art and architectural theory with a focus on social housing and on how politics, gender, visual culture, and spatial perception might have influenced its formation.
Her work seeks to revisit historiographies to shift the attention from the architectural object to architects’ intentions for their designs. Her book Das Neue Bauen für den Neuen Menschen (2007) discusses the underlying concepts toward generating a ‘new human’ with the help of social housing design during the Weimar Republic in Germany. Similary, “Social-Individualism” (2011), “Sensation of Space and Modern Architecture” (2012), “Raumplan after Loos” (2015) and “Spaces for the elevated personal life” (2016) address the interchanges between architectural ideas and politics, sociology, and philosophy.
Her latest research project The Modern Backdrop was funded by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Arts (2022-24). It combined archival research, oral history, and community outreach projects to better understand perceptions and portrayals of Salford and its citizens during modernisation and redevelopment (1952-1974)
She is also a member of the Board of Advisors of the International Archives of Women in Architecture (IAWA) in Blacksburg, Virginia, the Steering Committee of the Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago and the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) group of the RIBA Northwest in Liverpool, UK.

Areas of Research

Social Housing
Women in Architecture
Architects in Exile
Perceptions of Spatial Constructs

Areas of Supervision

CURRENT CALL: Women of the Second Wave
The ‘second wave’ of feminism is usually associated with the time-frame from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. Women practicing architecture during that time often focussed on creating designs that were accessible for women with prams and the elderly and who pointed out a need to integrate ‘feeling safe’ in the public realm. We seek a PhD candidate in architecture or the humanities (history, sociology, art history) to undertake an oral history project with women who practiced architecture during this time paired with archival research. The project will investigate how women responded to feminist demands towards inclusivity, safety and accessibility for women, the elderly and people with disabilities. The outcome will be an outline and analysis of the architectural designs by women in architecture in response to these demands that is contextualised with literature and primary material. The project will provide an understanding of the extent and nature of women’s contributions to architecture at that time to identify whether any areas of unique expertise can be elicited from women’s contributions to the field. Secondly, to gain a better understanding of how their input may have helped in fostering a broader development of architectural designs towards inclusivity and safety in the built environment.

More information and details on how to apply: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/women-of-the-second-wave-uk-practices-towards-inclusivity-and-safety-during-the-1970s-and-1980s/?p173300

Teaching Qualifications and Recognitions Publications

Teaching

Tanja Poppelreuter has expertise in teaching in the fields of Architectural and Design histories, 20th Century Art History, History of Medicine, and Research Methodologies (Architecture and Art History).
She has taught in Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and led undergraduate as well as postgraduate modules. Her particular interest is in supporting students in unfolding their potentials when developing and writing their undergraduate or postgraduate (March) dissertations.

Qualifications and Recognitions

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow. The Higher Education Academy

    2018

  • Doktor der Philosophie

    2007

  • Magister Artium


Publications

Publications

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