ARCHITECTURE
CITIES
LANSCAPES
ARCHITECTURE
CITIES
LANDSCAPES
About Us.
Architecture, Cities, Landscapes: History and Heritage is grounded in a long-standing collaboration between two chairs at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: History of Architecture and the Living Environment and Heritage Studies. Our group brings an interdisciplinary perspective to the study of the built environment, combining historical research with critical approaches to heritage and spatial development. Our work thus spans heritage theory, architectural history, and urban and landscape studies, with a strong focus on how buildings, cities, and landscapes are shaped by social, cultural, political, and environmental dynamics.
Our group engages with key societal challenges and current debates on socio-spatial relations and spatial transformation, including urbanisation, sustainability, water management, energy transition, climate adaptation, and circular approaches to design and reuse. The research contributes to academic scholarship as well as to broader public and professional discussions, reflecting VU Amsterdam’s commitment to socially relevant, responsible, and interdisciplinary research.
Our Focus.
With our layered focus on the spatial practices of architecture, city and landscape of past and present, we explore new theoretical and practical approaches for nuanced engagement with the living environment of today and tomorrow. In doing so, we use a variety of concepts, methods and techniques, from landscape biography and citizen participation to digital, geographic information systems and 3D. The group has a clear profile in combining innovative historical research of the Dutch situation in an international context and confrontation with international scientific approaches. Special focus in this regard is a critical and historically grounded approach to design, planning and heritage perspectives and spatial transformations.
The current challenges in the living environment, such as social inequality, housing shortage and climate change are global issues. Dealing with these challenges in the spatial environment interfaces with various disciplines such as architectural design and spatial planning, archaeology, the study of changing landscapes, local history and heritage studies. This translates, among other things, into the presence of a relatively large (international) network and a considerable number of PhD students and external PhD students working in various projects.
Our Team.
Our programme is delivered by an interdisciplinary team of professors, researchers, and PhD candidates with strong international profiles in architecture, heritage, urban and landscape studies. Our team combines expertise in architectural and urban history, heritage theory, spatial planning, landscape research, and cultural analysis, with a shared commitment to understanding how the built environment is shaped by historical processes and contemporary societal challenges. Our team members are actively involved in national and international research projects funded by organisations such as NWO and the European Union, and have led or contributed to large collaborative initiatives on heritage, spatial transformation, and sustainability. Aligned with our program's interdisciplinary focus, our research addresses a wide range of themes, including urbanisation, energy transitions, climate adaptation, memory and conflict, landscape change, and participation in heritage planning. The work of our team has been published widely in the form of books, peer-reviewed articles, and edited volumes, and we have played an active role in public debate, policy advice, and professional practice. With a close connection between teaching and research are closely connected, our staff supervises students at Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD levels, bringing current research questions directly into the classroom