Qualifications
BA (Hons) Arch, DPhil Arch (York)Position Senior Lecturer
Research Group Liveable Cities
Dr Carl O'Coill studied architecture at the Hull School of Architecture and
at the University of York, gaining a Doctorate in Architecture in 2001. His
research interests are diverse but are related by a consistent concern with
social and cultural issues in architecture. Areas of exploration include the
cultural politics of architectural design, the political economy of urban
development, focusing on the UK context and East Africa, public participation in
architecture and urban regeneration as well as architectural visualization and
virtual reality as they relate to user involvement in the design process. Dr
O'Coill is also a practicing participatory designer and has been involved in a
wide range of community-based architecture and urban design projects in the UK over the
past five years, from small-scale urban landscaping schemes to larger estate
regeneration initiatives.
Recent Publications
"Computer Game Technology as a Framework for Online Collaboration in
Participatory Design" (2005). Joint author with Mark Doughty Conference
proceedings, IADIS, Web Based Communities Conference, Algarve, Portugal, 2005
Developments in online gaming have attracted attention due to the way they
appear to transcend the barrier between computer and the player and offer an
alternate gaming experience for web-based communities. This paper offers a
perspective on the potential and practicalities of applying these online modes
of interaction and interfacing to the process of participatory design in the
field of architecture.
"Computer Game Technology as a Tool for Participatory Design" (2004) Joint
author with Mark Doughty. Proceedings of the 2004 eCAADe Conference,
Architecture in the Network Society. Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts:
Copenhagen.
This paper reviews existing research into real-time visualization in
architecture, urban design and landscape architecture and describes the
application of this technology in the Albany Street Home Zone, a participatory
design project the School of Architecture is currently undertaking in Hull, UK.
The paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of computer game technology in
relation to more conventional participatory tools.
“Cultural Politics and the Problem of Tradition: Re evaluating Regionalist
Interpretations of the Architecture of Geoffrey Bawa” (2004) Joint author with
Dr. Kathleen Watt. Conference Proceedings, Architecture and Identity, Berlin
University of Technology.
In re-evaluating selected examples of the work of the late Geoffrey Bawa, Sri
Lanka's most celebrated architect, this paper argues that regionalist
interpretations of his architecture are constrained by a preoccupation with the
modern/traditional dichotomy. Critics have consistently failed to acknowledge
the extent to which Bawa’s work is entangled with local struggles over identity
in the context of a long-standing and violent ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
“Making Differences: Cities, NGOs and the Cultural Politics of Development
Discourse“ (2002) in Nick Hall, Editor, Communicating for Development. London:
Intermediate Technology Publications.
This book chapter reveals the politics of representation underlying depictions
of non-Western cities in the literature on third world development. Development
discourse is preoccupied with imaginary differences and hierarchies, it argues,
and the places it describes are not grounded in any empirical reality. The
'third world city' is a Western invention, an imaginative construction that has
helped to sustain a geometry of power and control that the West has exerted in
one form or another since the first days of colonialism.
'The Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa’ (2002) Joint author
with Dr Firoze Manji, International Affairs. 78 (3): 567-583.
In Western and post-colonial cities alike, the promotion of voluntarism has
provided a useful means for economic liberals to contain demand for state
welfare and control popular expectations about how the responsibilities and the
benefits of urban development should be shared. This paper traces the evolution
of the role of international NGOs in Africa and suggests that their position in
‘development’ represents a continuity of the work of their precursors, the
missionaries and voluntary organisations that cooperated in Europe’s
colonization and control of the continent.
Current Research
Critical Regionalism Versus Hybridity as a Framework for Interpreting
Architecture in Post-Colonial Contexts
Critical Regionalism has been promoted as a strategy for re-establishing
local architectural identity in post-colonial countries, but it fails to account
for the complex set of relations that surround architectural production in these
contexts. In this study examples of the work of Geoffrey Bawa are analysed to
show that the concept of ‘hybridity’ has much greater interpretative power for
understanding post-colonial architectural responses.
The Missionary Position
This is a book Dr. O’Coill is currently adapting from his DPhil thesis. The book
is concerned with the activities of British voluntary organisations (NGOs)
working in the field of urban development in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and
draws comparisons and contrasts with the field of urban regeneration and the
voluntary sector in Europe and the US.
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Game-based Visualisation of Albany Street Homezone, Hull |
Recent Consultancy
Steeple Row Enhancement, Ely (2005 - 2006)
Participatory, urban design consultancy for East Cambridgeshire District
Council.
The Club's The Hub, Lincoln (2005)
Participatory, urban design consultancy for Lincoln City Football Club and
Lincoln City Supporters' Trust.
Albany Street Home Zone, Hull (2002 - 2005)
Urban landscaping and participatory design consultancy for Hull City Council and
the Department for Transport.
Newland Avenue Mixed Priority Route Road Safety Demonstration Project, Hull
(2003-2005)
Urban landscaping and participatory design consultancy for Hull City Council and
the Department for Transport.
LIFT Project, Hull (2003 - 2004)
Participatory design consultancy concerned with the design and construction of
two health centres in Hull, for West Hull NHS/Primary Care Trust.
Homethorpe, Orchard Park, Hull (2001)
Participatory design and advocacy project undertaken in a voluntary capacity to
assist a local residents' organisation in resisting demolition of their homes.
Buttershaw Housing Estate, Bradford (2000 - 2001)
Participatory, urban design consultancy undertaken in conjunction with Yorkshire
Planning Aid and Royds Community Association.
Preston Road New Deal for Communities, Hull (1999 - 2000)
Participatory design consultancy undertaken in conjunction with the Architecture
Foundation.