Abstract 
Urban transformation have historically been slow and relative in scale, but most importantly were driven by local dynamics which made both the evolution of the types of habitable shells as well as urban patterns relevant to the time and place. This slow and continuous and progressive change imprinted distinct familiarities and traces of the past in the built environment but also reflected contemporary lifestyles and often glimpses of future aspirations. Modem planning is now called to support particularly challenging conditions associated with rapid urbanization and unprecedented social, economic and environmental realities; global warming internationalization of economies and advanced technologies created a new speculative context as the basis of city transformation and growth.

A new generation of tall buildings in Europe from the late 1990s onwards forces planners to rethink and reposition baseline assumptions governing land-use and infrastructure resource management in the context of an ambiguous and often incoherent narrative of ‘need’ and ‘aspiration’ of contemporary living and a new sense of ‘environmental quality’. The talk will consider the impact of this transformation on the historic urban-scapes of Limassol and Nicosia.

About the Speaker
Lora Nicolaou is an architect, with postgraduate work in urban design and a qualification as a town planner. She was the Director of Urban Strategies at DEGW (London) (1998-2009). In parallel she held the positions of the Head of Research for the Urban Renaissance Institute (URI) at the University of Greenwich, UK (2004 -10). She has now established her own design, strategic briefing and masterplanning consultancy with a parallel post as a visiting professor at Frederick University School of Architecture, Cyprus. Lora taught in parallel to her practice work at Oxford Brooks University (JCUD), as a part-time senior lecturer (1989- 2000) and more recently as a visiting Professor at the University of Cyprus.

Her particular interest is the interpretation of user’s needs & preferences in a way that can intelligently inform design and integrated strategies. Recent work includes city strategies for Dublin, Rotterdam, Cambridge, Utrecht, Hereford, London and Nicosia (Nicosia Centre Area Plan), a number of estate strategies & master planning projects for a wide range of sectors such as health, education and residential sectors and building concept design for a number of office, cultural and educational buildings. Empirical research covers a wider range of issues from the implications of density on housing quality and urban character, to workplace strategies and the review of skills and project management’s structure on the ability of organisations to deliver regeneration. Publications (a number of book chapters, academic articles) cover an equally wide range of topics from the debate around Tall building in the context of the European city, employment space briefing and regeneration delivery.

Lora was a CABE (Commission for the Architecture and the Built Environment) enabler (2000-2012) and main contributor to a number of their publications - Creating Successful Masterplans: A Guide for Clients, ‘Coding’ practice in the UK planning system and ‘StrUD’ (Strategic Urban design), delivery of large scale regeneration projects. Lora was also a member of the Olympics Design Review Panel (GLA, CABE), the South East Regional Design Panel and Essex County Council Advisory Panel and the Vice-President of the Cyprus Architects Association (CAA), and competitions panel member of CAA and ETEK in Cyprus.

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This event is part of the CyI Colloquium Series.  View all CyI events.