Nigel Westbrook

Dr. Nigel Westbrook gained a Bachelor of Architecture from RMIT (1982), undertook the Diploma at the Architectural Association (1980-82) was awarded a Master of Architecture by Research from RMIT (1996) and obtained a PhD from the University of Western Australia (2013). He has been a member of staff since July 1993.

Dr. Nigel Westbrook is currently Associate Professor in Architecture, Associate Dean (Research), and previously was the Discipline Chair of Architecture for five years. He teaches in the fields of architectural design, architectural history and urban studies, and has co-taught five international studios in Athens, Greece (1995, 1997, 2013-15), and one studio in Chicago, USA (2001). He also supervises postgraduate students in cognate fields of research.

Key research:

PUBLICATIONS

Forthcoming:

An Architectural Reconstruction of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors, from Constantine I to Heraclius (unpublished PhD thesis), preliminary acceptance for publication by Brepols 2015.
with Ali Mozaffari, Heritage and Revolution: The Quest for Authenticity in Late Twentieth Century Iranian Architecture (book proposal accepted in 2015 for publication by Palgrave.
A critical catalogue of the Istanbul field notes of Ernest Mamboury (manuscript in preparation for publication as digital archive by DAI Istanbul).
With A. Mozaffari, ‘The Architecture of Peripheral Modernism: Negotiating Canonical Works and Daily Life Experience in Iran’, Chapter in ‘Peripheral Modernisms’ ed. K. Pizzi and P. Silva-McNeill, Legenda Oxford.

Book Chapters

2015 (In process of writing) With Ali Mozaffari, 'Reclaiming Heritage through the image of traditional habitat' to be included as a chapter in an edited book based on a 2016 panel in Qatar on heritage.
2015 'The translation of Constantinople from Byzantine to Ottoman, as revealed by the Lorck Prospect of the city' Byzantina Australiensis 21 ed. Amelia Brown (forthcoming).
2014 Nigel Westbrook and Khem Aikwanich, Project 'Symbiocity' published in Carlo Aiello (ed.), Evolo Skyscrapers 2: 150 New Projects Redefine Building High (New York: Evolo, 2014).
2014 with Ali Mozaffari, ‘The Unfinished Museum Museum at Pasargadae’, in ‘World Heritage in Iran: Perspectives on Pasargadae, A. Mozaffari, ed., 2014 (50%).
2013-14 with Ali Mozaffari, ‘In Search of the Authentic Modern: the Rhetoric of Architecture in Late 20th Century Iran’, in K. Pizzi and P. Silva McNeill eds., Peripheral Modernisms, accepted for publication 2015-16 (50%).
2012 with Rene van Meeuwen, ‘Colour in Architecture’ in ‘Colour and Design’, Marilyn de Long and Barbara E. Martinson, eds., London, New York, Berg, 2012 (40%).
2006 ‘Spoliation and Imitation: Continuity and Radical Disjunction in Byzantine Palatine Architecture’, in ‘Byzantine Narrative: Papers in Honour of Roger Scott’, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Byzantina Australiensis 16, J. Burke, ed., Melbourne: AABS, 2006, 444 – 461.
2000 ‘The Melbourne Domain’: dissertation presented for M. Arch. RMIT, published as ‘The Melbourne Domain’, in ‘Interstitial Modernism’, introduced and edited by Dr. Leon van Schaik, RMIT, 2000.

Journal Articles (refereed)

2015 (In process of writing) 'From the Golden House to the Golden Triklinos: the Symbolism of Light and Lustre in Late Antique Palace Architecture', paper to be presented to the 2016 SAHANZ conference, Melbourne.
2015 (In process of writing) ' The House of the Dawn', paper to be presented in a panel, 'Liminality in relation to Heritage sites', for a conference on heritage, Montreal 2016.
2015 'Social housing as urban project: Shushtar New Town seen in the light of the 2nd International Congress of Architects, Persepolis, Iran 1974', Fusion Journal 006, eds. Dr. Ur?a Komac and Dr. Milica Muminovi?, University of Canberra, June 2015.
2015 ‘Syncretic symbolism and ritual movement in the Chrysotriklinos of the Byzantine Emperors’ Architectura, 2/2013 ed. D. Sack., 129-146.
2014 ‘Exchange of palatine architectural motifs between Byzantium, Persia and the Caliphate’, in K. Parry and D. Dzino eds., Byzantina Australiensia, Vol. 20, 129-153.
2013 with Rene van Meeuwen, ‘Reconstructing sixteenth-century Istanbul: the use of digital modeling as an heuristic tool in architectural history research’, Architectural Theory Review, Vol. 18 No. 1, 6 Aug. 2013, guest editors Dr. Andrew Leach and Dr. William Taylor.
2013 ‘Notes towards the reconstruction of the Forum of Strategion and its related roads in Early Byzantine Constantinople’, in G. Dunn, ed., Journal of the Australian Early Mediaeval Association, Volume 9 3-38.
2011 ‘The Freshfield Folio view of the Hippodrome in Istanbul and the Church of St. John Diippion’, Basileia: Essays on Culture and Imperium, eds L. Garland and G.Nathan, Byzantina Australiensia 17, Brisbane 2011, 231-262.
2011 ‘The Accounts of the Nika Riots as Evidence for sixth-century Constantinopolitan Topography,’ Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association 7, 2011, 33-54.
2010 with Rene van Meeuwen and Ken Dark, ‘Melchior Lorichs’ Panorama of Constantinople’, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (USA) Vol. 69, No. 1, March 2010, 62-87.
2007 ‘The Question of Origin in Late Antique and Early Byzantine Art-Historical Scholarship’, in Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, Volume 3, 2007, 327 – 346.
2006 ‘An Architecture of Traces and Ascriptions: Interpreting the Vanished Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors in Constantinople’, in Fabrications, the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand 16/1, ed. Andrew Leach (June 2006) 43 – 61.

Journal Articles (unrefereed):

2013 Andrew Leach, Nigel Westbrook et al., Position Paper: 'Open Brief', Architectural Histories 1(1)27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ah.ba.
1995 'Phantom Grids & Master Views: The Melbourne Domain' Transition no. 47, 1995, 6-19.

Published Conference Papers (refereed):

2015 'A return to the beginnings of Regionalism: Shushtar New Town seen in the light of the 2nd International Congress of Architects, Persepolis, Iran 1974', paper presented to the 32nd Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), MCA Sydney, 7-10 July 2015, proceedings edited by Paul Hogben and Judith O'Callaghan.
2014 'The Chrysotriklinos Within the Great Palace of Constantinople as Site of Contestation Between Byzantium and Sasanian Iran', Investigating and Writing Architectural History: Subjects, Methodologies and Frontiers, Papers from the Third EAHN International Meeting, ed. Michela Rosso Torino (2014) 666-682.
2014 'The Regionalist Debate in the Context of the 1970s Architectural Forums in Iran,' in Proceedings of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand: 31, Translation, edited by Christoph Schnoor (Auckland, New Zealand: SAHANZ and Unitec ePress; and Gold Coast, Queensland: SAHANZ, 2014), 385–396.
2013 ‘An Exchange Between East and West: Emulations and Borrowings in Roman, Byzantine, Sasanian and Arabic Palaces, from the Third to Tenth Centuries’, paper presented to the 30th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Gold Coast July 2-5 2013: Open, proceedings ed. A. Brown and A. Leach, 365-374.
2012 with Rene van Meeuwen, ‘Melchior Lorck’s Panorama as a source for the topography of sixteenth-century Istanbul’, 2nd EAHN conference: Urban Representations of the Temporal, 31 May-3 June 2012, Brussels Belgium, H. Heynen and J. Gosseye (eds.). Session: ‘Across Geographies: Shifting Boundaries of Renaissance Architectural Historiography’ (Brussels: Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van Belgie, 2012) 86-92.
2012 ‘In the Sewer: interpreting the field-notes of Ernest Mamboury’, paper presented to the 29th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Launceston, Tasmania, 5-8 July 2012: Fabulation: Myth, Nature, Heritage, proceedings ed. S. Loo, S. King and A. Chatterjee, 1223-41.
2012 with Ali Mozaffari, ‘The Politics of Contextual Specificity and Global Architectural Trends’ [post-revolutionary architecture in Iran], paper presented to the 29th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Launceston, Tasmania, 5-8 July 2012: Fabulation: Myth, Nature, Heritage, proceedings ed. S. Loo, S. King and A. Chatterjee, 792-811.
2011 ‘An Emperor cowering behind protective walls’, paper presented to the 28th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) Brisbane 7-10 July 2011: ‘Audience’, proceedings ed. D. Van Der Plaat and A. Moulis, 71 and CD.
2011 with Ali Mozaffari, ‘The Unfinished Museum: The Case of Pasargadae World Heritage Site Museum, paper presented to the 28th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Brisbane 7-10 July 2011: ‘Audience’, proceedings ed. D. Van Der Plaat and A. Moulis, 11 and CD (50%).
2010 ‘From literary topos to concrete site: reconstructing the Great Palace through typology, analogy and empiricism’, paper presented to the 27th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2010: Imagining, proceedings ed. M. Chapman and M. Ostwald, 257-62.
2009 ‘The Chalkê: The Bronze Gate of the Byzantine Great Palace’, paper presented to the 26th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), University of Auckland, 2009: Cultural Crossroads, proceedings ed. J. Gatley, 61 and CD.
2008 ‘De Ceremoniis Aulae Byzantinae: The Book or Ceremonies and the Great Palace’ plenary paper presented to the 25th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Deakin University, Geelong, 2008: History in Practice, proceedings ed. Ursula de Jong and David Beynon, 11 and CD 1-17.
2007 with R. Van Meeuwen, ‘The Freshfield Folio view of the Hippodrome in Istanbul and the Church of St. John Diippion’, paper presented to the 24th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ): Panorama to Paradise, Adelaide, S. A., 2007, proceedings ed. S. Loo and K. A. R. Bartsch, 69 and CD.
2007 with R. Van Meeuwen, ‘Modeling History- Simulating Ambiguity’, paper presented to the 24th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ): Panorama to Paradise, Adelaide, S. A., 2007, proceedings ed. Stephen Loo and Katharine A. R. Bartsch, 44 and CD.
2006 ‘East <> West’, paper presented to the 23rd Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Fremantle W.A., 2006: ‘Contested Terrains’, proceedings ed. T. McMinn, J. Stephens, S. Basson, 575 – 581.
2005 with R. Van Meeuwen, ‘Viewing the Other: the Panorama of Constantinople by Melchior Lorichs’, paper presented to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Napier New Zealand, 2005: ‘Celebration’, proceedings ed. A. Leach and G. Matthewson, 373-78 (60%).
2004 ‘Monstrous Passages’, paper presented to the 21st Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Melbourne 2004: ‘Limits’, proceedings ed. H. Edquist and H. Frichot, 521-27.
2003 ‘Spoliation and imitation in Byzantine Palatine Architecture’, paper presented to the 20th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Sydney 2003: ‘Progress’, proceedings ed. H. Margalit and G.Hartoonian, 344-50.
2002 'Site and ascription: the Octagon within the Great Palace of the Byzantine emperors', paper presented to the 19th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Brisbane 2002: Additions to Architectural History, proceedings ed. J. Macarthur and A. Moulis, 63 & CD-ROM.
1999 ‘Horizontal Gothic’, paper presented to the 16th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), Hobart / Launceston, Tasmania: Thresholds, proceedings ed. Richard Blythe and Rory Spence, 373-80.

Presented Conference Papers (no proceedings):

2013 ‘Representational aspects of the Chrysotriklinos as reflected in the De Ceremoniis’, paper presented to the Early Christian Centuries Conference, Australian Catholic University Melbourne, October 3-5 2013.
2012 (with Rene van Meeuwen), ‘Byzantium sive Constantinupolis: Byzantine and Ottoman in the Panorama of Melchior Lorck’, Australian Association For Byzantine Studies XVIIth Biennial Conference, 20-22 July 2012, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia: Byzantium, its Neighbours and its Cultures: Diversity and Interaction.
2012 (with Ali Mozaffari), ‘The Architecture of Peripheral Modernism: Negotiating Canonical Works and Daily Life Experience in Iran’. ‘Peripheral Modernisms’ conference, University of London, 26-28 March 2012.
2012 ‘Exchange of palatine architectural motifs between Byzantium, Persia and Europe’, Australian Association For Byzantine Studies XVIIth Biennial Conference, 20-22 July 2012, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia: Byzantium, its Neighbours and its Cultures: Diversity and Interaction.
2012 ‘Roads to the Strategion: Topographical reconstruction of the location of streets leading to the forum of Strategion and the Neorian and Prosphorian harbours in Early Byzantine Constantinople’, AEMA conference, Land and Sea in the Early Medieval World, c. 300-1100, Brisbane, 27-28 April 2012.
2011 ‘The Destruction of buildings in the Great Palace Precinct during the Nika Riots and their subsequent Rebuilding,’ Australian Early Medieval Association conference, Perth UWA 2011.
2008 ‘An attribution of structures in a drawing of the Hippodrome in the Freshfield Folio,’ Australian Association for Byzantine Studies Conference, UNSW, Sydney 2008.
2004 ‘Constructed Narrative: Continuity and Disjunction in the Building of the Great Palace’, paper presented to the 14th Conference of the Australian Association for Byzantine Studies: ‘Byzantine Narrative’, Melbourne August 2004.
1998 ‘Cultured Surface and Virgin territory: paper presented to the 1998 Annual Conference of British Art Historians, Exeter, Great Britain: ‘Identities’, 1998.
1997 ‘Travelling Inside’: paper presented to the 1997 interdisciplinary ‘Building, Dwelling, Drifting’ conference at Melbourne University. The paper was published in the proceedings, ‘Building Dwelling Drifting: Migrancy and the limits of Architecture’ eds. Stephen Cairns and Phillip Goad
1996 ‘The 19th-century Urban Park & Melbourne Botanic Gardens': paper presented to the Urban Planning and History Conference, Canberra, 1996.
1992 ‘Melbourne Botanic Gardens and Public Park Design’: Paper presented to the ‘Edge Too’ Australian Landscape Students conference, Melbourne 1992.

Encyclopaedia entries:

2011 Entry: ‘Robert Nation,’ in P. Goad and J. Willis, The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012 (pre-release 2011) p. 487.
2007 "Great Palace in Constantinople", 2007, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Constantinople URL: .

Catalogue Essays:

2015 (With Kalliope Kontozoglou) Exhibition: Urbanism of Negotiation: Athens in Crisis/Future Athens Hellenic American Union galleries Athens January-February 2015; catalogue essay: Returning to Athens.
2015 Foreword: Seeding the Future, catalogue for exhibition Future Histories: Post-Urban Design curated and edited by Anthony Duckworth-Smith.
2015 'Waves breaking on an isolated coast', essay for catalogue of UWA Architecture School 50th anniversary, curated and edited by Beth George.
1998 ‘Terragni. Suspension of Meaning’, essay in ‘Terragni’ catalogue, RMIT, UWA.
1997 ‘The Inside-Out City' in ‘Sectioning Athens’ ed. N. Westbrook and K. Kontozoglou, Athens: ‘Untimely Books’ 1997.
1993 Review of design for Queensberry Hill Youth Hostel, Melbourne, in Parts Unknown exhibition catalogue (shown in accompanying exhibition), Weissenhof Architectural Museum, Stuttgart, Germany 1993, pps. 50-53.
1993 Article: 'The Fault Line' in Parts Unknown exhibition catalogue, Weissenhof Architectural Museum, Stuttgart, Germany 1993, 60-61.

Invited lecturer:

2013 Invited speaker Middle East Technical University Ankara March 2013: Great Palace.
2013 Invited Speaker Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens February 2013, Athens, Greece: Great Palace.
2013 Invited speaker SARCHA Athens February 2013 Athens, Greece: Lorichs Panorama of Istanbul.

Dr. Westbrook is currently collaborating with the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Istanbul, on the twentieth century field drawings of Ernest Mamboury in Istanbul, a project that will reveal hitherto undocumented information on the street layout of Early Byzantine Constantinople.

EMPLOYMENT RECORD

1989 - present Practising architect

1984 - 1990,
1992 - 1993 RMIT & MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY
Part time studio coordinator

Architectural design

1992 - 1993 LYON LYON HILBERT ARCHITECTS, Melbourne
Design Architect
1991 - 1992 DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
The University of Western Australia

Lecturer

1986 - 1991 PERROTT LYON MATHIESON
Design Architect

1985 - 1986 Katsalidis & Partner
Design Architect

1983 - 1985 DENTON CORKER MARSHALL
Assistant Design Architect

1983 RAGLAN SQUIRE & PARTNERS, London
Assistant Design Architect

1982 - 1983 ROMEGROUP, London
Assistant Design Architect

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Nigel Westbrook has engaged in architectural consultancy both independently, and working for other practices. Work includes:

2008 - 2009 SIR CHARLES GAIRDNER HOSPITAL
Renovations to Radiology Department

2008 - 2009 Berge House, West Brunswich Vic.
Renovations and Additions

2008 Hughes House
Renovations and Additions, project

2008 UWA Arts Precinct
Urban Design workshop - invited Participant

2008 Perth Foreshore Redevelopment
Urban Design Peer Review - Invited Participant

2007 Art Gallery of Western Australia Architecture
+ Urban Design workshop- invited Participant

2007 The Town of Vincent and DPI T.O.D. Urban Design Review
Invited Participant

2007
DPI and City of Perth Mounts Bay Design workshop
Invited Participant

2006 DPI Albany Foreshore Design Review
Invited participant

2005 - present Kelso House
Halstead Street Hamilton Hill
2005 - 2007 Challen House Extension & Renovation
Knebworth Avenue North Perth

2000 - 2005 Grouped Houses
Malcolm Street Fremantle
(with DS Design and Blackett Smith Architects)
2003 RAIA (WA) Group Housing Award (1998 – 2002)

2001, 2003 Gevers House Renovation
Knutsford Street Fremantle (2001)
2003 WA Timber Industry award, Architectural category, for interior

1998 - 2005 Westbrook House Extension and renovation
Hampton Road Fremantle (1998 – 2005)

2000 Sweetman House Extension and renovation
Fothergill Street Fremantle

2000 - 2003 Private Residence
Solomon Street Fremantle

1990 - 2000 East Perth Housing Competition 2nd prize
(with Shane Rothe and Paul Evans)
National competition run by EPRA and RAIA for the design of a prototype group housing project on the East Perth Redevelopment site. (1992)

YHA hostel, North Melbourne
1992 RAIA (Victoria) Group Housing Award
(Design Architect for Perrott Lyon Mathieson Architects
& Planners Pty. Ltd.) (1992)

1991 - 1995 Public Housing
Windsor Melbourne
(Design Architect for Lyon Lyon Hilbert Architects)

1990 Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Canberra 2nd prize
(Joint Design Architect for Perrott Lyon Mathieson Architects & Planners Pty. Ltd.)

Design Architect for Following Practices:

1986 - 1991 Perrott Lyon Mathieson Architects Melbourne

1991 - 1993 Lyon Lyon Hilbert Architects Melbourne (1991 1993)

1980 - 1990 Macquarie St. urban design competition Joint 2nd prize
(with Nonda Katsalidis Architects) (1986)

Design Architect for following Practices:

1980 - 1982 Romegroup, London

1982 - 1983 Denys Lasdun Architects, London

1983 - 1985 Denton Corker Marshall Architects, Melbourne

1985 - 1986 Nonda Katsalidis, Melbourne

1986 - 1991 Perrott Lyon Mathieson Architects, Melbourne

EXHIBITIONS AND COMPETITIONS
1997 ‘Sectioning Athens' exhibition & catalogue -in collaboration with City of Athens and The Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, with the support of the Australian Embassy, Athens 1997;

1997 Entry to the Europan Thessalonika Arc urban design competition 1997 (with Kalliope Kontozoglou & Axis Mundi Architects, Athens)- exhibited project, Athens;

1996 Entry to the Barcelona UIA urban design competition, 1996 (with Sasha Ivanovic, Architects)- exhibited project, Barcelona.

1994 Exhibiting architect, ‘Transfiguring the Ordinary: Architectural Speculations’ 1994, exhibition organized as part of the 1994 Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, Meridian Gallery, Fitzroy. Westbrook’s project, investigating the urban development of Melbourne in relation to its river and parkland, was reviewed in the Australian Higher Education Supplement, 19/10/1994 by Caroline Jones.

1993 Exhibited project, Queensberry Hill Youth Hostel, ‘Parts Unknown’ exhibition, Weissenhof. This exhibition was curated by Marika Neustupny, Lucinda McLean, Nigel Bertram and Andrew Wilson, and shown in the Weissenhof Architectural Museum, Stuttgart, Germany, 3 November to 15 January 1993. It featured a selection of architectural work by younger Melbourne architects. The exhibition was reviewed by Joachim Goetz, Architecture Critic, Stuttgart Zeitung, 23/11/93: ‘From the Post Colonial City: Australian Architecture in the Stuttgarter Weißenhof-Galerie’

1992 Exhibition: East Perth Housing Competition Perth Council House1992 – Westbrook’s 2nd prize entry (with Shane Rothe and Paul Evans) was exhibited along with the other premiated entries; Their project was cited in the review of the exhibition by Megan Nordek in Transition, Issue 44/45, 1994, ISSN 0157 7344, pps. 130-137 ISSN 1037 9835, pps.

1990 Exhibiting architect: 'New Breed' exhibition & conference, NSW University of Technology 1990- Westbrook was selected as one of approximately 40 younger Australian architects for this exhibition. His project was a scheme for the Freemasons Hospital Day Procedure Centre, 1986-1990, designed for PLM Architects. The first stage of the scheme was completed.

Key research areas:
– Historic urban topography, including the urban topography of Constantinople/ Istanbul as it is revealed through the construction of perspectival Renaissance urban prospects, notably the 1559 view by Melchior Lorichs;
– Late Antique and Early Byzantine high-status and palatine architecture;
– The use of digital methodologies in architectural history research;
– Architectural exchanges between Iran and the West;
– Modern architecture in Iran, 1970-1990.

Dr. Westbrook completed his PhD on the architecture and topography of the early Great Palace of the Byzantine emperors, from Constantine I to Heraclius (2013), which has recently been accepted for publication.