Dr Athina Moustaka

PhD in Architecture
Doctor of Philosophy

Status	Complete
Part Time	Yes
Years	2012 - 2017
Project Title	the Networks of concrete: Tracing Materiality in the redevelopment of Park Hill
Project Description	Concrete in the built environment is typically described as a static and inert presence, and as a receptacle of a creator's order. This view offers little consideration to the way we interact with the material on a daily basis. The aim of this dissertation is to provide a better understanding of how we engage with materials and unravel them in the exceptionally versatile specificity of concrete. In order to fulfil this aim I initially explore theoretically the active potential of materials. I then open the black box of concrete to trace its actions and study the daily performances in its different manifestations (such as renovation, use, experience, material and technical performance) in the redevelopment of a 1960s brutalist estate, Park Hill. I start by revisiting the history of concrete to describe its interactions with human and non-human actors. Using the concrete in Park Hill's redevelopment as a lens, I adopt an Actor Network Theory (ANT) inspired methodology to trace the associations it forms with other entities. Assemblage theory serves to describe its complex specificity. Viewed in this way, concrete becomes neither nature nor culture, oscillating between the two. Describing the interactions of concrete I find that it becomes activated in a network, dynamically and it is continuously changing without a teleological purpose. In this network, concrete is never on its own, but continuously interfering with other actors involved in complex assemblages of the built environment. Concrete is thus exposed as an activated powerful agent, charged with the ability to instigate action and is fluidly and dynamically shaping and being shaped by this interaction. Being active in a network with material and human actors, concrete reveals emergent properties, which are conceptualized as unexpected, non-linear and lacking in both causality and hierarchy. The purely material aspects of concrete, together with attributed meanings and the intentions of the creators, exist in a composite network of material and constructed interactions. Because it is viewed beyond constructs, it is revealed as active, and because it is intricately shaped, it is not solid and stable but vibrant, displaying many different modes of acting, interacting and even affecting those that surround it. A range of possible effects has been identified from the actions of the material that could not be constrained to the purpose it was originally ascribed to. Some pertain to the actions of concrete as an object, and some to its actions as a subject; some are material and some exist constructed in the minds of the users; they are emergent, unexpected and they all exist in a network.Drawing inspiration from ANT and revisiting assemblage theory and concrete historiography, this dissertation aims to contribute to architectural studies, by presenting the interactions of concrete with human and non-human entities, activated in an assemblage and beyond stabilised descriptions. It also aims to contribute to studies of concrete by challenging the views of the omnipotent architect over the material and the idealised intentions of concrete in brutalism.
Awarding Institution	The University of Salford

Status	Complete
Part Time	No
Years	2002 - 2005
Project Title	Se7en interventions in residual urban space
Project Description	Se7en interventions in Residual Urban Space explores the hidden psyche of the city through the lens of architectural intervention. Drawing inspiration from the seven mortal sins, this graduation project delves into the notion that residual spaces are the subconscious of urban environments. Through seven distinct designs, each sin becomes a narrative thread, weaving together the complexities of urban life and the untapped potential of neglected spaces, ultimately reimagining them as vibrant, engaging, and integral parts of the urban fabric.

Dr Athina Moustaka's Qualifications (5)