Izabel Amaral

Biography

Izabel Amaral is an assistant professor at the McEwen School of Architecture. She is a Brazilian architect with a PhD from the Faculté de l’aménagement at Université de Montréal who lives in Canada since 2005. 

Izabel graduated from Federal University of Pernambuco (2000), in North-East Brazil, where she acquired her professional experience in residential and public building designs, as well as in architectural acoustics for theatres and performance spaces. She holds a Master in History and theory of architecture, with an expertise in urban form and habitation from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (2004). Her master of research investigates extensively the residential works of Brazilian modern architect Acacio Gil Borsoi. 

At the Université de Montréal (2010), she developed her Ph.D. thesis under the direction of Jean-Pierre Chupin, and participated in research activities at the Laboratoire d’études de l’architecture potentielle. Her doctoral thesis proposes an understanding of the notion of tectonics on contemporary architectural practices through a cross-cultural analysis of Canadian and Brazilian competition projects. 

She is currently teaching advanced years of design studio and a graduate architectural theory seminar. Her research interests take part in the field of history and theory of architecture, with a particular interest in the design process, where she investigates the relations between the cultural, technical and aesthetic dimensions of construction. In parallel, she has also developed research-creation works that address drawing, sound and bodily movements.

As primary investigator, Izabel is currently leading the SSHRC funded research An Ecology of Wood Cultures in Canada (2003-2020): comparing constructive cultures through awarded architectural designs. At the intersection of architectural theory and cultural studies, this research investigates wood architecture as a symbolic universe that allows us to study the presence of nature in human culture. The diversity of expressions of quality in Canadian architecture is studied from the standpoint of environmental preoccupation, building culture and architectural expression.

Education

Ph.D en aménagement, Faculté de l’aménagement, Université de Montréal

Master in Architecture, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

B.A.S. in Architecture and Urbanism, Universidade Federal de Pernambouco, Brazil

Academic Appointments

2016 - current, Laurentian University, assistant professor

2016, École d’architecture de l’Université Laval, Sessional instructor

2008, 2012, École d'architecture, Université de Montréal, Instructor

2005, Université Potiguar, Natal – Brazil, professor

On The Web