Laura Hanks

Contact

• workRoom B46 Lenton Firs House
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 95 13181
• fax0115 95 13159
• laura.hanks@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Dr. Laura Hanks is Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Nottingham, where she leads the Masters in Theory and Design, and Year 5 of the Diploma in Architecture programme. She graduated in Architecture from the University of Liverpool in 1995, and gained her doctorate in Architectural History and Theory from the University of Edinburgh in 2002. Laura's research interests include contemporary museum and exhibition design, the architectural expression of identities, and issues of narrative space and place making. In 2011 she co-organised a conference, Narrative Space, which brought together an internationally diverse group of museum and heritage professionals, exhibition designers, architects and artists, with academics from a range of disciplines, and resulted in the edited volume, Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions (Macleod, Hanks and Hale, Routledge, 2012). Notable among her other publications are Museum Builders II (John Wiley and Sons, 2004), and contributions to Architectural Design and ARQ.

Teaching Summary

Dr. Hanks is Course Director for the MArch in Theory and Design, coordinates Year 5 of the Diploma in Architecture programme, and supervises Doctoral, Masters and Architectural Studies students. She… read more

Research Summary

Past research areas include: the depiction of 'global', regional, national, local, ethnic and personal identities in museum and exhibition design; contemporary museum and gallery design; and the role… read more

Recent Publications

• MACLEOD, S., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and HALE, J., eds., 2012. Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions 1st. Routledge.
• HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. Writing Spatial Stories: Textual Narratives in the Museum. In: MACLEOD, S., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and HALE, J., eds., Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions 1st. Routledge. pp. 21-33
• HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. The Riddle of the Victorian Mind: Faith versus Science at the Natural History Museum. In: QI, W., ed., From Crystal Palace to Darwin Centre: The Architectural Evolution of the Natural History Museum of London 1st. China Architecture and Building Press. (In Press.)
• KHOSHKHOLGI S., BORSI, K. and HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. Public Art in Regeneration Projects for Public Spaces The International Journal of the Arts in Society. (In Press.)

• View all publications

Dr. Hanks is Course Director for the MArch in Theory and Design, coordinates Year 5 of the Diploma in Architecture programme, and supervises Doctoral, Masters and Architectural Studies students. She is joint leader of a Year 6 Diploma unit, Edgelands, and lectures in architectural history at undergraduate level.

Current Research

Past research areas include: the depiction of 'global', regional, national, local, ethnic and personal identities in museum and exhibition design; contemporary museum and gallery design; and the role of text within museum and display making. Dr. Hanks' current research interests include: narrative approaches to found places, and particularly the use of spolia in the retention of genius loci; and the role of art in public spaces. In the future Laura plans to pursue her individual interest in the relation between architecture and literature. She also hopes to extend collaborations formed in the 'Narrative Space' project to launch an international doctoral training network.

• MACLEOD, S., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and HALE, J., eds., 2012. Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions 1st. Routledge.
• HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. Writing Spatial Stories: Textual Narratives in the Museum. In: MACLEOD, S., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and HALE, J., eds., Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions 1st. Routledge. pp. 21-33
• HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. The Riddle of the Victorian Mind: Faith versus Science at the Natural History Museum. In: QI, W., ed., From Crystal Palace to Darwin Centre: The Architectural Evolution of the Natural History Museum of London 1st. China Architecture and Building Press. (In Press.)
• KHOSHKHOLGI S., BORSI, K. and HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2012. Public Art in Regeneration Projects for Public Spaces The International Journal of the Arts in Society. (In Press.)
• BORSI, K., HOURSTON HANKS, L., FAIRFAX, J. and KHOSHKHOLGI, S., 2012. Whose Public Art is it Anyway? The International Journal of the Arts in Society. (In Press.)
• HOURSTON HANKS, L. and BROWN, C., 2012. Found Places: Approaches to Architectural Legacy. In: BORSI, K. and DURMAZ, B., eds., Designing Place: International Urban Design Conference University of Nottingham. pp. 217-232
• HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2011. Nation, City, Place: Rethinking Nationalism at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. In: WINDSOR LISCOMBE, R., ed., Architecture and the Canadian Fabric 1st. UBC Press. pp. 341-362
• HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2010. Island Identities: The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney ARQ: Architectural Research Quarterly. 14(3), pp. 222-236
• HOURSTON HANKS, L.A., 2007. Nature and nation: the bedrock of identity at the Canadian Museum of Civilization British Journal of Canadian Studies. 20(1), pp.
• MERAZ AVILA, F. and HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2007. Memory and Assimilation: Ontological Issues regarding the Phenomenology of the Reception of Culturally Significant Architecture In: Architecture & Phenomenology: International Conference, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, I.I.T., Haifa 13-17 May 2007.
• HOURSTON, L., 2004. Museum Builders II Chichester: Wiley-Academy.
• HOURSTON, L.A., 2003. A Temporary Trend? Architecture at Centre Stage in the Modern Art Museum. In: MARGOLIUS, I., ed., Art + Architecture Chichester: Wiley Academy. pp. 48-58
• HOURSTON, L.A., 1999. Representations of Nation within the Built Form and Material Culture of the Museum of Scotland Edinburgh Architecture Research. 26, pp. 77-90