The Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design invites you to a seminar by Sevgim Pekdemir.
Title: From Interior Space to Urban Form: Researching Circular Design Across Scales
Date: June 9, 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 13:30–14:30
Venue: FF Building, FB22
Abstract
Design disciplines increasingly face the challenge of responding to climate pressures, resource constraints, and evolving housing needs across multiple scales. This seminar presents Sevgim Pekdemir’s research journey from architecture and sustainability to circular urban design, examining how circular design thinking can inform spatial strategies across interiors, buildings, and urban precincts.
Drawing on design-led research, urban morphology, systematic review, and participatory design methods, the presentation explores how circularity can move beyond a conceptual sustainability discourse and become integrated into actionable spatial design processes. The seminar will highlight key research contributions, including circular urban design frameworks, design translation methods, and applications in adaptive housing and precinct-scale urban transformation.
Through selected publications and research projects, the presentation reflects on how architecture, interior architecture, and urban design can be connected through multi-scalar design thinking to support more adaptive, regenerative, and resilient built environments.
Short Bio
Sevgim Pekdemir is a sessional academic in Urban Design at Queensland University of Technology and a visiting researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. She is currently pursuing her PhD as a PhD candidate, building on a background in architecture and sustainability across Türkiye, Italy, and Australia.
Her research focuses on circular urban design, adaptive housing, and design strategies for sustainable transformation. Through design-led and participatory approaches, her work investigates how circular design thinking can be translated across multiple scales, from interiors and buildings to mid-rise urban precincts. She has published in journals such as Cities and the Journal of Urban Design, and has taught architecture and interior architecture studios at QUT and UNSW.
