Marta Brkovic Dodig

Biography

 Dr. Marta Brković Dodig is a scientist at the Land Lab. Her research landscape unfolds across a spectrum of interests:

• Sustainable and learning environments design
• Participation, co-design, and games
• Baukultur and built environment/architecture education
• Agency and activism in architecture and urbanism
• Spatial research methods and research by design

Marta holds a PhD in Architecture from the School of Architecture, The University of Sheffield, UK. Her doctoral dissertation, "Sustainable Schools as the Third Teacher: Creating a Design Framework for Sustainable Schools in Serbia, Learning from Practices in England, Germany, and Spain," adopted a research-by-design route, blending insights from architecture, sociology, pedagogy, and psychology. She explored and evaluated a series of schools in England, Germany, and Spain, and developed relevant proposals and an exemplary design for schools in Serbia. This pioneering work showcased sustainable school design and technological features as 3D educational tools, with publications in prestigious outlets such as Springer and the International Journal of Architectural Research.


Marta was a Weisser fellow in 2014 at the Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, and an Alexander von Humboldt fellow during 2018-2020 at the Chair for Urban Design and Development at TU Berlin. Over 15 dynamic years, Marta has held various research positions: from the PI and a research partner to a project impact evaluator, external expert, and advisory board member, with projects being hosted at both academic institutions (The University of Michigan, The University of Sheffield, TU Berlin, TU Munich, Polytechnic University of Catalonia) and in architectural practices through the “knowledge-transfer partnership” (Building Design Partnership Sheffield). Her projects have garnered support from a mosaic of funding sources, ranging from small travel grants (Robert’s Fund, Santander Award) to substantial backing (4M E) from cultural, educational, and environmental foundations (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DAAD, Humboldt), as well as national research institutions (Serbia Science Fund).


Marta also works as a scientist at EMPA St. Gallen on the SWEET SWICE project and is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade, Serbia. In parallel to her academic career, Marta has been active in the design and NGO sectors. Since 2011, she has acted as a founding Director of NGO ARQubator, which aims to tackle sustainability challenges through academia and local community partnerships in a participatory fashion. Marta has worked as an architect with G O Architekten in Munich (2015/16) and at M-House Design in Belgrade (since 2010).

Margaret Mead’s words:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has”

probably, in the most succinct way, summarize Marta’s multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral work so far. Constantly wearing three hats in the field of architecture and urban planning – as a professor and researcher in academia, a designer in an architecture studio, and an NGO activist – she has always strived to create projects including coherent cross-generational groups of experts and laypeople, inspired by state-of-the-art practice, informed by contemporary knowledge and the understanding of local context, willing to apply the amalgamated knowledge to agitate for change with local communities.