Katharine Bartsch
Senior Lecturer
Architecture and Built Environment
University of Adelaide
Australia
Biography
Katharine Bartsch, Senior Lecturer, Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide Katharine Bartsch, Senior Lecturer, Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide
Research Interest
My research examines how human mobility shapes the built environment, specifically Islamic architecture. Islam is a global faith and it has never existed in a vacuum. The emergence and diffusion of Islam can be traced along routes of migration, pilgrimage, trade, or travel in pursuit of knowledge. Given this context of mobility and the cultural encounters that it engenders, the goal of my research is to interpret the complexity and diversity of Muslim communities that is materialised in the built environment. Thus, my research is interdisciplinary, reaching beyond conventional discourses of architecture, to obtain rich insights from anthropology, cultural geography, world systems theories, postcolonial theory, and the history of travel. This approach enables a critical understanding of the production and transformation of the predominantly hybrid architecture of Muslim communities. Thus, my research aims to offer a compelling counter-narrative to pervasive misconceptions about architecture and Islam.
