Architecture, Culture and Tectonics Research Group
 

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Laura Hanks

Associate Professor and Senior Tutor, Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

Dr. Laura Hanks is Associate Professor and Senior Tutor in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Nottingham. 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. She currently teaches across the department, including Year 1 Architectural Humanities, MArch design studio and specialist seminars, and Year 5, Masters and PhD supervision. Laura's research interests are around contemporary museum and exhibition design, the architectural expression of identities, and issues of narrative space and place making. Notable among her publications are Museum Builders II (John Wiley and Sons, 2004), Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions (Macleod, Hanks and Hale, Routledge, 2012), chapters in Architecture and the Canadian Fabric and The Future of Museum and Gallery Design, and contributions to Architectural Design, Curator: The Museum Journal, and ARQ.

Laura is a part of the Architecture, Culture and Tectonics (ACT) Research Group.

Teaching Summary

Laura currently teaches across the department, including Year 1 Architectural Humanities, MArch specialist design studios and seminars, and Year 5, Masters and PhD supervision.

Research Summary

Laura's research interests are around contemporary museum and exhibition design, the architectural expression of identities, adaptive reuse, and issues of narrative space and place making.

Selected Publications

  • BORSI, K., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and KHOSHKHOLGHI, S., 2014. Continuity and Transformation: A Civic Heart for Chester-le-Street The International Journal of Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts. 9(1), 23-30
  • HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2015. Narrative, Story and Discourse: The Novium, Chichester Curator: The Museum Journal. 58(1), 27-39
  • HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2013. 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.)
  • MACLEOD, S., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and HALE, J., eds., 2012. Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions 1st. Routledge.

Future Research

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD candidates from Home, EU and international countries who are interested in the following research areas: Narrative approaches to found places, particularly the use of spolia in the retention of genius loci, and the role of art in public spaces; issues of narrative space and place making; adaptive reuse; contemporary museum and exhibition design

  • HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2018. The Museum and Multivalences of Place. In: MACLEOD, S., HALE, J., AUSTIN, P. and HO, O., eds., The Future of Museum and Gallery Design Routledge. (In Press.)
  • JASIM, M., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and BORSI, K., 2017. Do really the Audience's Views Efficiently Boost Built Heritage Conservation Policies? Athens Journal of Tourism. 4(4), 283-306
  • HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2015. Narrative, Story and Discourse: The Novium, Chichester Curator: The Museum Journal. 58(1), 27-39
  • BORSI, K., HOURSTON HANKS, L. and KHOSHKHOLGHI, S., 2014. Continuity and Transformation: A Civic Heart for Chester-le-Street The International Journal of Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts. 9(1), 23-30
  • HOURSTON HANKS, L., 2013. 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.)
  • 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 Routledge. 21-33
  • 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 University of British Columbia Press. 341-362
  • HANKS, L.H., 2010. Island identities: the Pier Arts Centre, Orkney arq: Architectural Research Quarterly. 14(3), 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

Architecture, Culture and Tectonics

The University of Nottingham
Faculty of Engineering
Nottingham, NG7 2RD


telephone: +44 (0)115 74 86257
email:ACT@nottingham.ac.uk