Professor Gisela L?hlein appointed head of Architecture

Professor Gisela L?hlein has been appointed head of the Department of Architecture at Xi¡¯an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The previous head of the Department, Professor Pierre-Alain Croset, has returned to Politecnico di Torino, Italy.

¡°I want us to be the best architecture department in China,¡± said Professor L?hlein (pictured above), ¡°and with our diverse and highly-qualified academic staff and excellent facilities we are well-placed to become exactly that.

¡°My work will be made easier due to the excellent work done by my predecessors, diverse academic staff and creative students," she said.

Regarding the positioning of Chinese architecture in Western scholarship, Professor L?hlein commented:

¡°I think, generally, Western scholarship portrays Chinese architecture through a Western lens, rather than considering the depth of Chinese history and culture and without a proper understanding of China¡¯s modern context, and this is something our academics are helping to address.¡±

Professor L?hlein has extensive experience both as an academic and as a practitioner, with a portfolio of work from across Europe, Australasia, and the Middle East.

She was a consultant and advisor to Sheikh Khaled bin Saqr Al Qassimi in Sharjah, and established the Institute of Built Environment at the British University in Dubai while serving as its programme coordinator.

To find out more about the Department of Architecture, including its research activities and programmes of study, visit their webpage.

story and photos by Danny Abbasi