Venetia Tsakalidou

Vanessa Tsakalidou graduated with distinction from the AUTh School of Architecture in 1997, after spending a semester at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV) with the Socrates (former Erasmus) programme. In 1998 she completed her postgraduate studies in architectural design (M.Arch. in Architectural Design) at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, under the supervision of Professor Peter Cook. Her doctoral thesis [‘The compositional logic of intervention in architecture’] was carried out at the AUTh School of Architecture under the supervision of Prof. A. Kotsiopoulos, in the field of architectural design and interpretive theories of space; it was funded by the European research scholarship programme ‘Heraclitus’ and graded excellent.

She is an Associate Professor at the AUTh School of Architecture, where she teaches architectural design and architectural theory. She is Director of the AUTh Postgraduate Programme ‘Environmental Architectural and Urban Design’ and ECTS Coordinator for Erasmus+ Studies at the School. She was a contract lecturer at the School of Architecture of the Democritus University of Thrace [2003-2007] and at the AUTh School of Architecture [2006-2016]. She has taken part in a number of AUTh research projects. She was a member of the supervising team of many international workshops and of the teaching team of the Lifelong Learning programme ‘Environmental Urban Design’.

She co-authored the books ‘Modernism and architectural education’ do_co.mo.mo_03 and ‘Memory – Museum – City’, was a member of the editorial team of the technical magazine KTIRIO, responsible for editing the annual editions ‘KTIRIO Architecture + Design’ (2007-2011), and edited special issues of the international yearbooks ‘Architectural Themes’ and ‘Themes of Space and Arts’.

She is co-founder of the Thessaloniki-based practice 40.22.Architects. Her research and built work have been presented at 62 conferences and lectures, in 57 exhibitions and in more than 100 Greek and international publications, magazines, catalogues and websites (15th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, Hellenic Institute of Architecture lecture series on Greek architects, 7th Biennale of Young Greek Architects, DOMES Panorama of Greek Architecture 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017, 4th & 5th Exhibition of Architectural Work, ‘Thessaloniki 1912-2012: The architecture of a century’, 7th Landscape Architecture Exhibition – Belgrade, 8th International Exhibition of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, etc.). She has also won awards and important distinctions (international Iconic Award 2013 from the German Design Council; 1st prize in the architectural competition for the redesign of ‘Balkan Square’; 2nd prize [one of 3 equal prizes] in the two-stage architectural competition for the redesign of the Patras waterfront; 2nd prize in the national ideas competition for the ‘Redesign and reuse of former lignite mining areas in Western Macedonia’; 3rd prize in the national competition for the former Papafi Stables; Honourable Mention in the International Architectural Competition for the ‘Municipal Market in Larnaca’; 3 purchases in national architectural competitions; Special award 2017 by the Serbian Academy of Arts; commendation for the best project of the five years 2013-2017, DOMES 2018, etc.). Since 2014 she has been co-founder of the interdisciplinary research group ‘Akalyptos SKG’.

She is a member of scientific and organising committees. Since 2014 she has been on the register of jurors for architectural competitions in the categories of Architectural Projects & Urban Design Projects. She was a member of the Thessaloniki City Council advisory working group on ‘Environment – Green infrastructure of the city’ [2014-17] and of the Standing Committee on Architectural Issues of the Technical Chamber of Greece [2018-20]. She is a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, SADAS and the Hellenic Institute of Architecture. Since 2009 she has been the National Commissioner for the international Piranesi Award, held every year in Slovenia.