Research

My research focuses on Bronze Age architecture with a keen eye for the production of the built environment. I am especially interested in exploring the choices posited by the builders during the construction processes, as they are reflected by the use of specific building materials and techniques. These choices can impact not only on the degree of elaboration of the buildings, but also on the labour-time requested by their construction. In the case of Minoan architecture, my assessment of the built environment through a method dubbed ‘architectural energetics’ stressed the low impact of monument building on this society, as well as the disinterest of Minoan builders for the expression of monumentality through sheer size, in marked difference with neighbouring Mycenaean, Near-Eastern and Egyptian civilisations. My involvement in several archaeological projects, past and present, in Crete and on the Greek Mainland (Malia, Sissi, Anavlochos, Palaikastro, Myrtos-Pyrgos and Thorikos) has provided me with the opportunity to explore further Bronze Age architecture through the study of architectural material and features (mudbrick architecture, masons’ marks) as well as the study and publication of the architectural sequence of incompletely published buildings. Since 2012, I am directing the project of the Building Dessenne at Malia, whose publication is about to be completed, and I am now directing the study and publication of the Palace at Malia. I am also involved in the excavation and publication of several areas on the hill of Sissi (Building E, cout and North Wing of the court-centered building). My main research goal is to explore the potential of architectural approaches for unveiling the biography of Bronze Age buildings and identify the builders who produced them.