PhD position at L/A\P and RxD – Built heritage, well-being, and design

Help us understand the role of design in leveraging heritage buildings as places that welcome people of different ages, abilities, and cultures.

Built heritage holds potential to serve as a bridge between generations and cultures, by reducing the physical and social isolation of people in later life or otherwise at risk of isolation.
Leveraging this potential is not straightforward: guaranteeing present-day spatial qualities, including accessibility and safety, is often assumed to be a heavy burden on affordability or even at odds with conservation of heritage values; moreover, heritage buildings carry traces of different views on human diversity than are common today, raising questions about how to deal with social concerns in the present.

Starting from the capacity of design trajectories to address paradoxes and hold complexity, Stijn Cools and Ann Heylighen are joining forces to guide PhD research on the possibilities and limits of design in reconciling seemingly irreconcilable requirements.

The research is generously supported by the Generet Fund through the Chair Suzanne Generet for built heritage and well-being. The offer further includes great colleagues at the Laboratory for Architecture and Practice (L/A\P) and Research[x]Design (RxD), and the Department of Architecture more generally, and a unique workplace in the Arenberg Park in Heverlee (Leuven).

Applications are welcome until April 30, 2026. For more information, see KU Leuven Vacatures | PhD position—Built heritage, well-being, and design

Photo: Maison Suzanne Generet