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I am a lecturer in architectural history and theory at London South Bank University. Before this, I was assistant professor of modern and contemporary architectural history at Trinity College Dublin. My longstanding historical research focuses on both southern China and northern India, exploring the entanglement of modernity within European imperialism and its participation in architecture and urbanism. My writing examines the relationship between the practice and theory of architecture against the cultural complexity of colonialism. This intersection draws upon the study of urban militarism, spatial security, hinterland ecologies, cartography, property, climate, disease, and race, among others.
I research and publish extensively on the architectural and urban histories of colonial India and Hong Kong.
I have recently published an important book on the urban and architectural construction of Hong Kong in the nineteenth century. Entitled 'Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong, 1841–1849', this is the first in-depth account of the turbulent early years of settlement and growth of colonial Hong Kong across the 1840s. During this period, the island gained a terrible reputation as a diseased and deadly location. Malaria, then perceived as a mysterious vapour or miasma, intermittently carried off settlers by the hundreds. Various attempts to arrest its effects acted as a catalyst, reconfiguring both the city’s physical and political landscape, though not necessarily for the better.
The book has won a Paul Mellon publication grant (October 2023) among others. It has been written about in various news media such as the South China Morning Post and Ming Pao (July 2024). I have been invited to speak at the University of Hong Kong (April 2024), the Hong Kong Book Fair (July 2024), the Society of Hong Kong Studies (July 2024), the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London (October 2024), and the Hong Kong History Centre at Bristol University (November 2024). The UK launch is at the Architectural Association Book Shop in October 2024.
This work on Hong Kong has recently led to a growing number of collaborative initiatives on the urban history of Hong Kong, such as work on infrastructure (for an anticipated edited book) and further research on Kowloon.
My major ongoing historical research work focuses on South Asia, especially standing military camps known as 'cantonments' within northern India and their development under the East India Company (mid 18th to early 20th centuries). I anticipate writing extensively on this subject in the near future.
I welcome applicants wishing to pursue a PhD in architectural and urban history (anywhere from 18th to 20th centuries). I especially welcome historical research focusing on colonialism, imperialism and asia (cities, hinterlands, infrastructure, cartography, race, disease, property, climate, construction, professions, etc.) but am open to many other historical projects.
Courses taught
Architecture - BA (Hons)
Architecture - MArch
Architecture - PhD
Columbia University
Columbia University
University of Hong Kong
University College London
University of Bath
University of Bath
Royal Institute of British Architects, UK
Architects Registration Board, UK
My teaching included several seminar and lecture modules (courses) at the undergraduate level, including a lecture survey class on modern architecture from the mid-seventeenth to the late-twentieth centuries and a broad-ranging lecture and seminar series on the history of cities spanning from Uruk to Dubai. I also lectured and taught seminars on Irish architecture and urbanism and European–non-western architectural encounters. In addition, I was a supervisor for the MPhil and undergraduate capstone programmes and am the second reader and chair for several PhD students. I also taught a postgraduate research-led seminar module on the architectural history of the long nineteenth century as inflected by colonialism in Ireland and the wider world. I was the head of first year studies and ran the public research seminar series. I have been a college tutor to the broader university.
(2018–19) Lecturer: “Questions in Architectural History: The Long Nineteenth Century,”
—a 12-part MArch survey class in history & theory
(2018) Substitute Seminar Professor: “Beyond Beauty: The Sublime and the Picturesque” (Mary McLeod) —an introductory class in history & theory of art
(2017) Seminar Professor: “Architecture of Colonial Modernity: Histories of Urbanism and Space within South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.”
— a 13-part university-wide elective class in history & theory
I was a qualified architect working on various projects ranging from Manchester Stadium to an office building in the City of London, Plantation Place 2.
An architectural and urban series published under Hong Kong University Press.
This will be my second year in the fall 2024 to give guest lectures at Bath University in architectural history and theory in the Department of Architecture and Building Engineering.
Classical Architecture in the Non-West
Disease and Colonialism in South East Asia
History of Architectural Theory
Prizes, awards, and accolades
Paul Mellon Centre Publication Grant (Nov 2023)
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Book Grant (Dec 2022)
Trinity College Dublin, Association and Trust
Fellows Award in Teaching (Jan 2017)
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University
Research Grant (Mar 2015)
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Archivist Grant (Jul 2011)
Andrew W. Mellon Graduate Student Internship
Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (Jan 2010)
Hong Kong Government Research Grants Council (HKRGC)
Awarded for excellence in the field of history.
Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong, 1841–1849 (Introduction)
Cowell, C. (2024). Form Follows Fever: Malaria and the Construction of Hong Kong, 1841–1849 (Introduction). Hong Kong Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.