Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Building Practices for Regenerative Built Environments

The University of Reading offers a PhD project focusing on integrating Indigenous knowledge and traditional building practices into sustainable architecture. This research emphasizes ecological principles and collaborates with Indigenous communities to develop guidelines for regenerative built environments. Applicants should have a relevant degree and meet English language requirements. The position is based in the UK and is full-time.
Contemporary urban and architectural development models, often rooted in Western universalism and anthropocentrism, contribute significantly to unsustainability and ecological crises. This PhD project advocates for a transformative shift by embracing the concept of the Pluriverse, which posits that diverse cultures and knowledge systems offer valid ways of understanding the world and interacting with the environment, grounded in relational ontologies.

Focusing on traditional and indigenous building techniques and associated land-use practices the research views these as expressions of deep ecological principles and Ancestral Knowledge . These practices embody principles like resource efficiency, climate adaptation, and circularity within their specific contexts .

Employing a co-creative methodology, the project will collaborate directly with Indigenous communities and knowledge holders through interviews, workshops, and fieldwork, integrating diverse knowledge systems.

Analysing documented practices through the lens of sustainability and relational ontologies , the research aims to translate these lessons into adaptable principles, guidelines, and tools for contemporary regenerative built environments. This approach seeks to promote epistemic justice, challenge dominant paradigms, and provide pathways for integrating ancestral wisdom into sustainable design and planning.

University of Reading:

The University of Reading, located west of London, England, is ranked at 172 globally, according to the QS World University Rankings 2025. 98% of research at the University is of international standing (REF 2021, combining the University’s world leading, internationally excellent and internationally recognised submissions). The University’s main Whiteknights Campus is set in 130 hectares of beautiful, award-winning parkland, less than a 30-minute train ride to London Paddington and is approximately 30 miles from London Heathrow airport.

During your PhD at the University of Reading, you will expand your research knowledge and skills, receiving supervision and training in a number of different forms. We also provide dedicated training in important transferable skills that will support your career aspirations. If you need to develop your academic English skills before you start your studies, then the University has an excellent International Study and Language Institute which can help with this.

Eligibility:

· Applicants should have a good bachelor’s degree (minimum of a UK Upper Second (2:1) or equivalent)/master’s degree in Architecture, Planning or a strongly-related discipline.

· International applicants will also need to meet the University’s English Language requirements. We offer pre-sessional English courses that can help with meeting these requirements.

The University of Reading is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and non-discriminatory treatment for all members of its community.

How to apply:

Submit an application for a PhD in Architecture via our online application system

Further information:

Architecture PhD webpage

Enquiries:

Prof Cristina Cerulli email: c.cerulli@reading.ac.uk