Catharina Gabrielsson

Catharina Gabrielsson is Associate Professor in Urban Theory and Docent in Architecture with a background as architect, critic and curator. She gained her doctoral degree in 2007 with the thesis To Make a Difference: Public space as a medium for art, architecture and imaginations of the political (Stockholm: Axl Books 2006) that explores the material, spatial and imaginary dimensions of public space through cross-readings between political philosophy and aesthetic practices. Her work occupies sites in historiography, architecture and urban theory and artistic research in critically investigating modes of spatial production, frequently employing fieldwork to draw out the connections between aesthetics, politics and economics. She has a keen interest in the potential of creative writing as a means for research in architecture, and was project leader for the VR-funded artistic research project "Transversal Writing" (2014–2017) that, in collaboration with Hélène Frichot, included a series of recurring workshops with international collegaues. She has published articles in e.g. Architecture and Culture, Architecture Theory Review, Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift, Nordic Journal of Architecture and contributed with chapters to e.g. Deleuze and Architecture (Edinburgh University Press, 2013), Architecture and Field/Work (Routledge 2010), Architecture and Feminisms: Ecologies, Economies, Technologies (Routledge 2017), Deleuze and the City (Edinburgh University Press 2016) – for the latter two, she was also one of the editors. Neoliberalism on the Ground: Architecture and Transformation from the 1960s to the Present (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020) is an international compilation of studies on how architecture and urban planning contribute to the ideological shift that characterises the  latter part of the 20th century, and is a collaboration with Kenny Cupers and Helena Mattsson. On the same theme, but focussing on Swedish conditions, she is co-author with Helena Mattsson of The Architecture of Deregulations: Postmodernism and Politics in Swedish Building 1975–1995 (working title) forthcoming in 2022. Her current research project "Positions in the political economy of public art" (funded by Formas 2021-2024) is a collabration with artist Eva Arnqvist and economic historian & planning theorist Jonathan Metzger (KTH) in partnership with Västerås stad and Konstfrämjandet. The project is a cross-disciplinary exploration of artistic processes in varying forms of organisation in places with radically different conditions, adopting public art as a lens to investigate the prerequisits for attaining the broader political aims in Gestaltad livsmiljö. Using the camera as a reseach tool, the project will result in a film that besides contributing to the methodological development in artistic research is intended to provide a platform for furthering knowledge and encouraging discussion on issues to do with art, democracy and sustainable development. Catharina has been a visiting researcher at Cities Programme, LSE (2008-10), African Center for Cities, Cape Town University (2013) and ATCH, Queensland University in Brisbane (2016). She is a member of the editorial committee for Arkitektur and Architecture and Culture, is a Fellow at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, and an elected member of the National Academy of the Fine Arts.