People

Mark is one of the founders of Studio Polpo, and worked in London, Sheffield and Berlin since qualifying from The University of Sheffield in 1997. Mark retains strong links with his former practice, Architype, with whom he has collaborated on various projects and has also been University Teaching Practitioner at the School of Architecture at Sheffield University since 2005 teaching on both Undergraduate and Masters courses.

He is particularly interested in flexible, mobile and changeable architecture and the innovative use of bio materials, and continues to develop these ideas in practice. Mark has been exploring issues of waste and circular economy in architecture through his MArch Studio, through Studio Polpo projects, and undertaking demolition site training .

Cristina qualified as an architetto in Florence in 1999. Since then she has worked in practice and academia in Sheffield and London. After completing her PhD research on supporting learning within design practices in 2004, she was a full time lecturer at the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield and Professor of Ethics in Architecture and Urban Design at Sheffield Hallam University. She is now a Professor at the University of Reading

Cristina’s research, teaching and design practice is underpinned by a desire to collaborate with others in ways that question and rethink the boundaries between approaches, roles and disciplines. Much of her current work is around community led housing development models, shared models of living and `alternative´ and creative forms of management and procurement. This includes award winning outputs around user led housing and collective custom build as well as design and consultancy work around co-housing, community land trusts and collective models of funding such as community shares and civic crowdfunding.

Cristina is also a ceramic artist and former Ceramic Starter studio holder at Yorkshire Artspace .

Jon joined Studio Polpo after graduating from the University of Sheffield in 2013. With Studio Polpo he has undertaken a number of projects investigating shared living, alternative housing models and high streets. This includes initiating OPERA sleepover performances and co-authoring the Experimental Residential newspaper. He has also helped to deliver commissions for The Tetley gallery and Bloc Projects which playfully explore the connections between art and architecture.

His PhD, a collaborative doctoral partnership between East Street Arts and the University of Huddersfield, investigated the provision of housing by artist-led organisations. It was also an embedded ethnographic study of Artist House 45, an artist-led housing project located in South Leeds. Jon is also a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Liverpool John Moores University.

Julia is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Sheffield Hallam University. Over the past 8 years she has taught Masters in Urban Design, Masters in Architectural Design, MArch Architecture and Landscape at The University of Sheffield, including post-graduate design studios ‘Future Works’ and ‘Design it Together’. Julia has recently completed work as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate on the AHRC Connected Communities large grant project, ‘Stories of Change’, which investigates energy and industry, past, present and future, working across a number of factory sites in the Don and Derwent Valleys.

Her research interests include ecological, social and spatial justice; architectural and urban activism; commoning; making, industry and craftsmanship; and diverse economies.

Anna trained in architecture and planning, and subsequently worked in design practice in the UK and the Netherlands, on projects ranging in scale from domestic conversions to new neighbourhoods. Her interest and passion is how design can support changing social needs.

Anna specializes in research into spatial practice. Her PhD, drawing on the work of Studio Polpo, investigated projects initiated by designers, communities and local authorities, through collaborative approaches to governance and funding. In 2015 Anna delivered a research study into international design practice, as part of the EU-funded creative practice research network ‘ADAPT-r’.

With Studio Polpo, Anna has been invited to speak on architecture and social enterprise in the UK, Belgium and Finland. An experienced and enthusiastic design educator, Anna has also taught architectural design studios in the UK and Denmark, and delivered workshops for community groups and schools. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.

James joined Studio Polpo in 2018 whilst studying his masters at the Sheffield School of Architecture. James has worked with Studio Polpo on the ds2 project, Aquaponic Minifarm, and a Sheffield-based Foodhub. He is currently working on projects around low impact living and adaptive responses to COVID-19. His interests include social practice, sustainable design, climate activism, retrofit, adaptive reuse and heritage.

James co-leads the Social Art Network in Sheffield, a national network of artists building agency in the fields of art and social practice. Continuing from his thesis proposing a model of community-led retrofit, he is developing Future Neighbourhoods; a platform which explores sustainable futures which engage with the places we live in today.

Stuart Thomason (Director 2010–21), Louis Pohl, Louwrens Botha, Lubna Wohbeh, Cara Mazetti Claassen, Chander Kant Aggarwal, Barbara Jorquera Diaz, Chiara Dalla Libera, Bryn Davies, Chloe Nicol, Katie Luckett, Jess Fisher, Raluca Iovu, Eliza Yardley, Levi Garner, Yumi Barbaglia, Becki Wallace, Nadia Mamood and Terri-Louise Doyle.