About
My name is Elke Miedema. I am a building engineer, architect, researcher and educator. I love complexity and empowerment as part of design, research and education. This is my personal portfolio website which I am slowly building to represent my passions.
Education
2020 - PhD - Doctor in Philosophy (240 ECTS)
Chalmers University of Technology; Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering; Division of building design
2017 - Technical Licentiate
Chalmers University of Technology; department of Architecture and Civil Engineering; Division of building design
2012 - Master of Science in Architecture (120 ECTS)
Faculty of Architecture, Delft, University of Technology, the Netherlands
- MSc Thesis: Building for Forensic Psychiatric Care (60 ECTS)
- History Thesis: The history of building for the criminally insane (6 ECTS)
2009 - Pre-Master Architecture (30 ECTS)
Faculty of Architecture, Delft, University of Technology, the Netherlands
2007 - BBE - Bachelor Architecture & Construction Engineering (210 ECTS)
Avans Hogeschool, Tilburg, The Netherlands
- Bachelor Thesis: Sickening and Healing Architecture
2006 - Minor - Architecture (30 ECTS)
Academie van Bouwkunst, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Diplomas & certifications
2018 - PhD Summer School (3 ECTS)
Faculty of Architecture, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
2010 - Architecture Didactics (van Gezel tot Meester) (21 ECTS)
Faculty of Architecture, Delft, University of Technology, the Netherlands
2010 - International Workshop: “Backside of the City”
School of Architecture Copenhagen
2006 - International Workshop: "Connecting the City"
Bochum Teknikal Hoghshule
Honors
2018 - Honours - Best research proposal - CAUP PhD Summer School (3 ECTS)
CAUP, Tongji University, Shanghai, China;
2013 - Selection Archiprix 2013
Selection TU Delft for Archiprix 2013 – of best graduate the Netherlands
2012 - Honours - Master Thesis (120 ECTS)
Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Table of Contents
Employment
Academic employment
PostDoc
Furbish Sustainable Hospitals (June 2020 – ongoing)
Division of Architectural Method & Theory; Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering; Chalmers University of Technology, SE
Project Assistant
Furbish Sustainable Hospitals (February 2020 – June 2020)
Division of Architectural Method & Theory; Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering; Chalmers University of Technology, SE
Doctoral Student
Architectural Interventions Dwelling, Ageing and Healthcare – AIDAH (September 2014 – June 2020)
Division of Building Design; Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering; Chalmers University of Technology, SE
Research Assistant
Grondslagen (2013-2014)
Division of Methods & Analysis, Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, NL
Student Assistant
Delft voor Docenten (2011)
Teacher Education Programme, Faculty of Science Communication & Education, Delft University of Technology, NL
Practice employment
Jury Member
Europan 13 Sweden (2015)
Gothenburg, SE
Research Assistant
Grondslagen (2013-2014)
Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, NL
- Grondslagen 1; housing
- Grondslagen 3; public buildings
Founder
Studio Elke Miedema freelance architect, Den Haag, NL (2013-2014)
- (2014) Alliander: Energy Storage at Home.
- (2013) Healthy Urban planning Helsinki – Europan 12 contribution
- (2013) Symbiosis in Development – System thinking Workshop RHDHV
Associate
Except Integrated Sustainability, Rotterdam, NL (2013-2014)
- (2013) Architect & project manager Mundo Antwerpen
- (2013-2014) Project manager of ‘Future Proof Buildings’ trajectory
- (2013-2014) Urban Renaissance
- (2014) Initiator and Project manager of Except College
Junior Architect & Researcher
Vitibuck Architects, Rotterdam, NL (2012)
- (2012) Researcher for Charlois aan het Water in Rotterdam
Project Member
Dorp, Stad & Land, Rotterdam, NL (2008-2009)
- Organisation ‘Ruimte Kwaliteits Prijs Zuid-Holland’ (spatial quality Award)
- Support legislation ‘Omgevingswet’ (environmental code)
Architecture Intern
AS Architecten, Tilburg, NL (2006)
Construction Site Planning Intern
Bouwgroep Moonen, Tilburg, NL (2005)
Societal outreach
As a researcher I find societal outreach an important and enjoyable part of research work; I like taking part in public debates, organise seminars, share my knowledge outside of academia. In this I try to pay special attention to accessibly of the communication methods.
Popular Science Communication
For instance, at Chalmers all PhD are asked to do a public popular science presentation. While most students do this as part of some of the events in Gothenburg (e.g. Science festival) I choose to develop a podcast version of my work. This makes the science material also accessible to people who cannot attend the event on location. Afterwards I initiated the visualisation of the podcast, which resulted in a explainers video about my work. The visualisation is done by Ben van Wijk of BenDesigner who also did this website. The video has been seen in different regions of the world, and people from as far as Australia commented on it.
Besides the podcast and explainer video I have been invited twice for a TEDx talk (Leiden and Amsterdam), provided lectures for design and engineering practices (RHDHV, Liljewall, White Architects), and knowledge institutes (CVA, Leuven, TU Delft, Artez, …). You can see an overview of lectures at the
Contributing member
I am involved in the development of Health Promotive Healthcare and Hospital settings (HPH) in Sweden, the Netherlands and Europe. In the Swedish HPH network (Nätverket Hälsofrämjande hälso- och sjukvård) I am part of the work group that focuses on the role of the built environment for HPH (Hälsofrämjande vårdmiljö). There we are currently working on improving the awareness of the role of the built environment of healthcare that can hinder or support HPH. We do this by clarifying the core ambition and definitions, collecting and curating relevant literature, and searching for good examples to inspire those working with HPH.
(Image by HFS)
In the Netherlands I have contributed to the development of ‘Architecture, Green Deal Healthcare’ of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). My role has been to introduce the workgroup to health promotive building design as well as provide them with complementary literature and feedback on their initial work. I have not been involved in the final writing of the material which is currently in the last phases of development.
PhD representation
Besides public communication I also represented architecture PhD students in both the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE), as well as in the PhD student guilt of Chalmers University of Technology (DS). As a PhD student representative at the DS I have been involved in helping PHD to right support, contact with DOMB, highlight local issues (with merge, workload, alignment of courses, introduction PhD students; graphic work: websites; movie about study plan evt.
As a representative at ACE I have had diverse roles over the years, amongst them; writing statutes when departments merged, collection needs for doctoral education, speaking out on research misconduct, organising seminars about ethics, organising social event and a PhD research day.
PhD research has been a day to highlight the abundance of PhD educational work at Architecture and Engineering Department at Chalmers. I have had the initiative to develop this research day, and I have helped the development of the idea into an event. This included co-developing a template for all PhD to work in, communicating the ideas and intentions with the PhD students, and the seniors at the Department, and communicating the event on social media.
