Negin Eisazadeh defends her PhD “Towards a More Inclusive Approach to Built Heritage Conservation”

Research[x]Designer Negin Eisazadeh cordially invites you to her public PhD defence on Tuesday 2 September 2025 at 17h00.

The defense will take place in Liège: ULiège, Faculty of Architecture (Salle Comodale), Boulevard de la Constitution 41, 4020 Liège 

The presentation and following discussion will be in English.

After the defense, you are invited to a reception in the Salle Capitulaire.

Please confirm your attendance via this link, preferably before Wednesday 27 August, and indicate whether you will attend the defence, the reception afterwards, or both.

Examination Committee

Prof. dr. ir. arch. Claudine Houbart, ULiège, Faculty of Architecture (supervisor)

Prof. dr. ir. arch. Ann Heylighen, KU Leuven, Department of Architecture (supervisor)

Prof. dr. Thomas Coomans, KU Leuven, Department of Architecture

Prof. dr. Elizabeth Guffey, State University of New York at Purchase, Department of Art History

Prof. dr. Pierre Hallot, ULiège, Faculty of Architecture

Prof. dr. Bie Plevoets, UHasselt, Faculty of Architecture and Arts

Abstract

Cultural heritage plays a fundamental role in shaping individual and shared identities, and despite being widely recognised as a shared human right, access to built heritage remains unequal. People with diverse bodies and minds often face challenges in historic sites, leading to disabling situations. This research explores the potential of a more inclusive approach to built heritage conservation, one that aims not only to safeguard historic places but also to ensure their inclusivity and relevance to broader society. It investigates how the lived experiences of people with diverse bodies and minds can inform such an approach. These experts by experience, who are often hindered in their daily lives, offer complementary perspectives in understanding the historic built environment, its challenges, and potentials.

The study involves collaboration with six user/experts with bodily, sensory and neuro-diversity across three case studies in Belgium: the historic centre of Liège, the rehabilitated Cité Miroir in Liège, and the monumental Leuven Town Hall, which is undergoing a conservation project. Using in situ go-along interviews and observations, this research foregrounds user/experts’ experiences of these heritage sites, and shows how these places can support or hinder diverse bodies and minds. Through graphic and text reports, these nuanced insights are translated into knowledge that professional experts, such as architects, can use in practice. The graphic report offers a concise yet insightful way to communicate rich experiential data in a form attuned to the architects’ designerly ways of working. The text report elaborates why diverse architectural elements and spatial features matter for different user/experts, what they afford and how.

Additionally, this study broadens the understanding of values in built heritage conservation. It highlights how people with disability experience not only identify barriers but also reveal overlooked qualities of heritage sites, particularly in relation to affect. It adopts an experience-led approach for rethinking heritage and its values, inviting critical reflection on common evaluation frameworks towards more context-sensitive approaches shaped by diverse perspectives. This approach challenges the framing of conservation and accessibility as competing aims and illustrates how the presence of diverse bodies and minds reinforces awareness of the limitations of conventional fabric-centred approaches to heritage conservation.

This research shows how a shift towards understanding heritage as a dynamic process that evolves through dialogue with diverse voices can take place, valorising how it is experienced alongside the historic fabric. By foregrounding diverse embodied, situated, and affective experiences, it offers a path towards a conservation practice that is both socially sustainable and meaningful for society at large, benefiting both people and heritage places.

This research was conducted as a joint collaboration between ULiège, Faculty of Architecture (UR AAP – DIVA) and KU Leuven, Faculty of Engineering Science, Department of Architecture (Research[x]Design).

For any questions about the event, do not hesitate to contact me (negin.eisazadeh@uliege.be).