Staff Profile

I am a registered architect (University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece). I obtained the interdisciplinary MSc ‘Design, Space, Culture’ at the National Technical University of Athens and hold a PhD in Architecture from the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (E.S.A.L.A).  

I have also taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the National Technical University of Athens and the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

My work focuses on the conditions of embodied experience of the architecture and natural landscape with special emphasis on the role of atmosphere. The main focus of my doctoral and postdoctoral work (between UK and Canada) was the embodied topography of Mount Athos and the role of silence/sound in different environments: sacred landscapes, contemporary cities, institutional complexes as well as in architectural representation, design and education. 

I am currently working on the project 'Faith on the Move: Relocating and Dislocating Religious Communities' that explores issues of identity, belonging, equality and diversity, in religious place-making in and outside of the UK.

Cultural approaches to sustainability, landscape safeguarding, materiality and tectonics also greatly inform my research.

My research and teaching acknowledges the significance of the dynamic combination of history, theory and design. 

I am currently the Co-Director of Architecture Research Collaborative [ARC] research group.

Architectural Design 6 (ARC8060) [Stage Co-Ordinator]

Architectural Design 5-6 [Design Tutor]

Cities, Cultures, Space (ARC2018) [Lecturer and Leader of the 'Space' Section]

Dissertation Studies and Research Methods

Linked Research Projects

• Articles

  • Kakalis CP. Tracing conflict: remembering and forgetting during the pilgrimage to Saint George Koudounas. Journal of Architecture 2022, 27(4), 573-593.
  • Craig J, Kakalis C, Ozga-Lawn M. On Disjointed Bodies: Emergent spaces between the body and screen in pandemic-era architectural education. Charrette 2021, 7(1), 41-58.
  • Armstrong R, Ferracina S, Kakalis C, Hughes R. Notating not knowing: The oceanic challenge to format and medium. Edinburgh Architecture Research 2020, 36, 14-34.
  • Kakalis C, Mygdali S. Performing Openness: Episodes of Walking Urban Narratives. Writing Place 2018, 1, 75-89.
  • Ioannou O, Kakalis C, Marda N. Pedagogical Approaches to Embodied Topography: The Hidden Landscape of Elaionas. ZARCH Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urban Studies 2017, 8.
  • Kakalis C. Silence, Stillness and the International Competition for the Arvo Pärt Centre. Architecture and Culture 2016, 4(2), 293-314.

• Authored Books

  • Kakalis Christos. Place Experience of the Sacred: Silence and the Pilgrimage Topography of Mount Athos. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024.
  • Kakalis C. Architecture and Silence. Routledge, 2020.

• Book Chapters

  • Kakalis C. Urban Liminality: Negotiating Borders and the Pilgrimage to the Monastery of St. George Koudounas. In: Border Urbanism : Transdisciplinary Perspectives. Cham: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023, pp.133-147.
  • Kakalis C. Silence, Paradox and Religious Topography, Christos Kakalis. In: Dorrian, M; Kakalis, C, ed. The Place of Silence: Architecture / Media / Philosophy. Bloomsbury, 2020.
  • Kakalis C. Representing the Sacred: Printmaking and the depiction of the Holy Mountain. In: Gonzburg, D; Brady, B, ed. Space, Place and Religious Landscapes: Living Mountains. Bloomsbury, 2020.
  • Kakalis C, Marquez Munoz IJ. Interruptions III: Silence, emptiness and architectural design. In: Kakalis, C, ed. Architecture and Silence. New York, NY, USA: Routledge, 2019, pp.140-153.
  • Goetsch E, Kakalis C. Introduction. In: Emily Goetsch and Christos Kakalis, ed. Mountains, Mobilities and Movement. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, pp.1-12.
  • Kakalis C. In the Shadow of the Mountain: Tracing the Hesychast Inhabitation of the Mount Athos. In: Kakalis C, Goetsch E, ed. Mountains, Movements, Mobilities. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, pp.37-57.
  • Kakalis C. Silence and Communal Ritual in an Athonian Coenobitic Monastery. In: Alberto Pérez Gómez and Stephen Parcell, ed. Chora 7: Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture. Montreal, Canada: McGill – Queen’s University Press, 2016, pp.163-188.

• Edited Books

  • Kakalis Christos, Boyd David, ed. Embodied Awareness of Space: Body, Agency and Current Practice. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. In Press.
  • Beattie M, Kakalis C, Ozga-Lawn M, ed. Mountains and Megastructures: Neo-Geologic Landscapes of Human Endeavour. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
  • Dorrian M, Kakalis C, ed. The Place of Silence: Architecture / Media / Philosophy. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
  • Kakalis C, Goetsch E, ed. Mountains, Movements, Mobilities. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. In Preparation.

• Reviews

  • Marda N, Kakalis C, Ioannou O. Pedagogical approaches to embodied topography: A workshop that unravels the hidden and imaginary landscapes of Elaionas. ZARCH 2017, (8), 288-299.
  • Kakalis C. Experimentations. John Cage in Music, Art and Architecture. By Branden Joseph” (Book Review). The Journal of Architecture 2017, 22(2), 359-363.