7-10 April 2027

We invite applications for our next PhD School, organized online between 7-10 April 2027.

The PhD School explores how risks shape inherited residential environments and influence their long-term transformation, using Gyumri, Armenia, as its common case study. The city was severely affected by the devastating 1988 earthquake, which struck northern Armenia with a magnitude of 6.8, causing widespread destruction and the death of 25,000–50,000 people. As Armenia’s second-largest city, Gyumri offers a compelling context for examining the enduring impacts of disasters on residential environments, including inherited vulnerabilities, unfinished transformations, and uncertain urban futures. Through this case study, the PhD School investigates how residential environments evolve across different temporalities of risk—before, during, and after disruptive events, as well as in anticipation of future threats—with the aim of developing strategies for more sustainable and resilient urban futures.

During a four-days online program, participants will have the opportunity to work closely with cities.building.culture researchers, local experts, and invited speakers, engaging in a combination of lectures, presentations, and interactive workshops. The participants will also have the chance to present their own research and receive feed-back.

The PhD School provides a setting to:

• Develop a broader understanding of topics such as risk, resilience, urban transformation, and the factors that shape how residential environments respond to change and uncertainty
• Engage with current research, practices, and perspectives on how cities and residential environments evolve in response to different risks and changing conditions;
• Develop approaches for translating lessons from one context into strategies for addressing risks in other contexts;
• Experiment with collaborative methods of working and learning through interactive, small-group formats.

The PhD School is open to doctoral candidates from the fields of architecture, urban studies, planning, heritage conservation, urban geography, anthropology and related disciplines.

Applications are open until 15 December 2026.

Download the flyer here