ProfessorPaul Sanders

Professor Paul Sanders is the Professor/ Chair of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at Deakin University. Paul has experienced three career phases in architecture and rich working experiences in three continents; studying in the UK and later as a registered practicing architect for fifteen years in South Africa, through which he gained extensive knowledge of the built environment professions, construction industry, and importantly the social dimension of architecture. His interest in teaching was the catalyst for a transition into academia that developed from beginnings as a lecturer through to various roles as an academic leader in Australia. through academic management, inter-disciplinary collaboration, as well as engagement with industry and the profession.

His career in academic and practice has been rooted in urban architecture upon an underpinning of how architecture affects and is affected by its urban context. Paul’s scholarship in architecture, urban morphology, and urban design has allowed him to engage deeply across all areas of the built environment and design disciplines. Paul has a PhD in the field of Urban Morphology, the thesis developed strategies to apply the research approaches of urban morphology as a tool to guide the form for appropriate urban architecture.

Paul’s current major research activity is as Government NHMRC funded project called GrandSchools: An Intergenerational Learning and Living Campus, which addresses the Health and Wellbeing of seniors and youth and proposes new approaches to the urban design of educational precincts. Paul is currently collaborating with leaders at Deakin University to establish a groundbreaking new area of teaching, research, and applied facilitation named Design for Circular Cities, focusing on systems thinking for sustainability in the built environment