https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1953-3045
Prof. Florian Urban
E-mail: f.urban@gsa.ac.uk
Florian Urban is Professor of Architectural History, and Head of History of Architectural and Urban Studies. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts in Berlin, an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA and a Ph.D. in History and Theory of Architecture from MIT.
He was born and raised in Munich/Germany and spent most of his adult life in Berlin before moving to Glasgow in 2010. Before joining the Mackintosh School of Architecture he taught at the Center for Metropolitan Studies, Berlin Technical University and worked for the German Federal Institute for Research on Construction, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR). Since 2009 he has been the Book Reviews Editor-in-Chief for the journal Planning Perspectives.
He is the Secretary of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN)
Publications: https://radar.gsa.ac.uk/view/creators/518.html
-History of architecture in the urban context, particularly in the 20th century,
-Architecture and Energy in historic buildings,
-Postmodern architecture,
-Architecture under socialism, particularly in Poland and in East Germany,
-New Tenements, that is, dense
2018/19 German Historical Institute Warsaw (D/PL) Six-month grant as a visiting scholar to research “Postmodern Architecture in Poland”
2014-16 Leverhulme Trust (UK) Two-year research grant for “The New Tenement”
2013-14 University of Puerto Rico/ National Endowment for the Humanities (USA) Six-months invitation as a visiting professor and researcher, financed by the National Endowment of the Humanities, teaching (in Spanish) and research
2013 Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK) Research grant to study “Balmoral Castle in a European Context”
2012 Book Prize of the International Planning History Society (IPHS) for Tower and Slab („best book on planning history written in English and based on original research”)
2007 Geschwister-Böhringer-Ingelheim Foundation (Germany) Grant to publish my book „Berlin, DDR-Neo-historisch“ in German
2007 Fritz-Thyssen Foundation (D) one-year research grant for the research of tower block developments in Europe, America, and Asia
2005 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council, D) Summer Fellowship to complete my doctoral dissertation, research at the Center for Metropolitan Studies Berlin
2005 Center for European Studies, Harvard University (USA) research grant for doctoral research in East Germany
2004 Society of Architectural Historians (USA) Opler Award for academic publication of young researcher
2003-2004 Studienstiftung des Berliner Abgeordnetenhauses (Foundation of the Berlin Parliament, Germany, D) one-year grant to conduct research in East Berlin
2001-2005 MIT Department of Architecture (USA)
five-year grant to complete doctoral studies in History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture (full tuition fees plus salary as a teaching assistant)
see research interest
Sean Kinnear, PhD 2022, funded by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH), Thesis: "Out of the Shadows: How Cold War nuclear bunkers, constructed between 1950 and 1970, secretly impacted Scotland’s architectural history."
Xiaohan Lu, PhD 2024, Thesis: "Adaptive Reuse of Warehouses in Glasgow’s Merchant City"
Florian teaches lecture courses and seminars in history and theory of architecture at the undergraduate and postgraduate level
