Konstantinos Sakantamis

I was born on 15 April 1976 in Thessaloniki. I graduated from Anatolia College in 1994. The same year I entered the AUTh School of Architecture through the national entrance exams, and received my Diploma in Architectural Engineering in July 2000, with a grade of 8. In September 2000 I entered the postgraduate programme of the School of Architecture of the University of Sheffield, and received a Master of Architectural Studies, MArch in Advanced Architectural Studies, in September 2001.

In August 2001 the University of Sheffield offered me a fee waiver to continue my studies as a doctoral student, and in October of the same year I began doctoral research at the School of Architecture. In April 2002, after an open selection process, I took up the paid position of Research Assistant at the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering of the same university, on the interdisciplinary funded research project Rapid Construction of Small Passenger Interchanges. Alongside my work as a researcher and doctoral student, I gained teaching experience with first-year architecture students in the BArch Science and Technology Module (Structures, ARC 107c) in the academic years 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05, taking part in their assessment, and as a Guest Lecturer in the MSc in Railway Engineering of the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

From May 2007 to February 2008 I completed my military service.

In July 2008 I submitted my doctoral thesis, Generic Architectural Products for Small Rail-linked Passenger Interchanges, at the University of Sheffield. I successfully defended it on 8 October 2008 and was awarded my PhD on 8 April 2009. On 28 January 2010 my doctorate was recognised by DOATAP as equivalent to degrees awarded by Greek universities. During my postgraduate studies (2000-2008) I published eleven scientific papers in total: two in scientific journals, eight in conference proceedings, and one presentation of my design work in the yearbook of graduating students of the AUTh School of Architecture.

From September 2009 to September 2013 I taught as a Lecturer (Presidential Decree 407/80) at the School of Architecture of the Faculty of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, in two teaching teams on architectural and urban design. Selected student projects from the Landscape Architecture I-II and Urban Design I-II studios (2009-10) in which I taught were accepted and published at the 6th Landscape Architecture Biennale in Barcelona. My duties at the Democritus University also included co-supervising diploma and research projects, and in July 2010 I was a member of the teaching team of the 3rd summer architecture workshop, Interactive Environments and Architecture, organised by the School of Architecture of the Democritus University under the title Places of Transition.

In March 2012 I was elected Lecturer in “Architectural and Urban Design with an Environmental Perspective” at the School of Architecture of the AUTh Faculty of Engineering. In October 2012 I began teaching (unpaid) at the School as a member of the teaching team of the year-long 3rd-year design studio From design to construction. In the spring semester of 2012-13, my parallel teaching at the Democritus University and my participation in the teaching team of the semester-long 2nd International Design Seminar PoPUp Shrinking Concept, co-organised by the schools of architecture of the Technical University of Madrid (Spain), the University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and the Democritus University, allowed a group of AUTh students to take part in the international workshop under my supervision.

My appointment as Lecturer in July 2014 allowed me to formally take up my duties at the School of Architecture. In November 2016 I was promoted to Assistant Professor in the same field, and in 2020 I was given tenure in that position. Since September 2014 I have been a member of the interdisciplinary teaching teams of design studios and theory courses in the School’s curriculum, teaching the courses: 02EE10 Materials and construction technologies, 03ΕΕ10 Environmental Design, 03ΤΒ10 Principles of Bioclimatic Design of Building Envelopes and Surroundings, 04ΕΑ10 Design 4 – Architectural Design in the Natural Environment, 06ΕΑ10 Design 6 – Urban Design, 07ΕΕ20 Museology: Museum Design, 08ΕΒ10 Design 8 – Articulations, 09ΕΜ12 Advanced topics: Design of Museums and Exhibitions, ΠΡΚ Internship. By June 2022, 22 design diploma projects and 16 research diploma theses had been successfully completed under my supervision, and I am currently supervising 15 design diploma projects and 15 research diploma theses.

Student projects that I have supervised or co-supervised at AUTh have been shown in architecture exhibitions and have won distinctions and awards in national and international competitions; four of them are among the most important AUTh distinctions for the years 2015, ’16, ’17 and ’18.

Since the academic year 2014-15 I have taught independently in two postgraduate programmes: i) the MSc Environmental Architectural and Urban Design of the AUTh School of Architecture, and ii) the MSc Environmental Design of Cities and Buildings of the Hellenic Open University. Since 2019 I have also given lectures in the inter-departmental programme Tourism and local development (3rd specialisation: Cultural – Religious Tourism) and in the MSc Spatial planning for sustainable and resilient development of the AUTh School of Spatial Planning and Development.

In the AUTh MSc in Environmental Architectural and Urban Design, I have taught the courses: Urban Design Studio I and II, Architectural Design Studio I and II, Framework for Environmental Control and Design of Buildings and Open Spaces, Energy and Environmental Management Systems and Installations for Buildings and Open Spaces, Methodological Approaches to Research and Ethics of Academic Writing, Environmental Management I and II. So far (June 2022), 11 master’s dissertations of the first 3 cycles of the programme have been completed under my (co-)supervision, and one more is expected in September. Finally, since the programme was founded I have been a member of its coordinating committee, which helped shape the original proposal for establishing the programme (2015) and its revision (2017), and which supports and promotes the programme and its research results.

In the Hellenic Open University MSc, I am a member of the Collaborating Teaching Staff of the postgraduate programme Environmental Design of Cities and Buildings MSc, now a specialisation of the wider programme Environmental Design. For 2019 the Hellenic Open University’s Governing Committee appointed me coordinator of the module ΠΣΠ 60 Environmental Design of Cities and Open Spaces. Alongside my teaching in this module, between 2014 and 2021, 38 research/design dissertations were completed under my supervision (as first or second supervisor); they are published in the University’s online repository of master’s dissertations. For 2021-22 I declined a teaching assignment and took on only the supervision of dissertations, so as to better meet my research duties at AUTh. Finally, since 2019 I have been a member of the three-member Academic Supervisory Committee of the programme, responsible for revising the programme, its syllabus and its teaching materials.

At the same time, since 2007 I have worked continuously on research projects of the schools of architecture of the Democritus University and AUTh, funded by national or European sources. In this context, in 2012 I became an alternate member of the management committee of the funded European action EU COST Action TD0408 ‘Soundscape of European Cities and Landscapes’, 2008-2013. My participation broadened my research into soundscape and smellscape. As a member of the action I co-organised a conference and designed a travelling exhibition of the research work (Soundscape Travelling Exhibition), and I was a member of the editorial committee of the special publication Soundscape of European Cities and Landscapes, Oxford, 2013.

In 2013, my postdoctoral research proposal Walking in the city of Thessaloniki, submitted to the AUTh Research Committee under a relevant call, was awarded an excellence scholarship that allowed me to continue my research as a postdoctoral researcher at the AUTh School of Architecture. Since 2012, this research has led to papers presented at international and national conferences and invited talks, and to a special session, SenseScapes: Sound+Smell+Light Scape in the Urban Context, at the international conference Changing Cities II. The research has been recognised for the learning opportunities it offers both to participants (volunteers) and to researchers, winning an award (June 2014) in the ideas competition organised by the NOESIS museum, “Learning from my city” (Grundtvig, “The city is my learning space” http://www.thecityismylearningspace.eu/ (opens in a new tab)).

Today I continue my research as Principal Investigator of the AUTh research team taking part as a partner in the funded international research project HERSUS, “Enhancing of Heritage Awareness and Sustainability of Built Environment in Architectural and Urban Design Higher Education”, ERASMUS+, Key Action 2 (KA2) – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, Strategic Partnership in the Field of Higher Education. I am also a member of the research team of the AUTh School of Architecture, led by the Head of School, Alkmini Paka, which takes part as a partner in the funded international research project SOS Climate Waterfront, carried out under the action H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018.

Over the last eight years I have done extensive organisational work, helping organise intensive urban/architectural design workshops and exhibitions of architectural work, and serving on competition juries and conference scientific committees. I have also taken on administrative work on AUTh committees, most importantly: i) the AUTh Integrated Environmental Management Committee, and ii) the Studies Committee of the AUTh School of Architecture (2017-19), which monitored and recorded issues concerning the smooth running of the School’s curriculum, proposed changes and completed its revision. Since 2020 I have also been Chair and full member of the Technical Council of the Ionian University.

Since October 2008 I have combined my teaching and research with built architectural work, collaborating with design teams on architectural projects for public and private buildings and on entries to architectural competitions. Since 2008 I have been a founding member of ArchSix Architecture Studio, with K. Chourmouziadou. Projects I have worked on have received distinctions in architectural competitions: i) in 2010, the detailed design of the Thermi Town Hall won the award for best project of 2007-2009 in the ‘DOMES Awards 2010’ competition; ii) in 2011, entry no. 7111317 in the Architectural Competition for the Stops of the New Sea Transport System in Thessaloniki was among the 20 best entries (out of 52) singled out for how well they met the competition criteria; iii) in 2012, entry 85111 won second place (commendation) in the invited architectural competition for the design of the International Baccalaureate facilities of Anatolia College.