Tarek Teba

I'm a Reader in Architectural Heritage at School of Architecture, the University of Portsmouth. My responsibilities include leading the MA Conservation Architecture course, coordinating Research Degrees (PhD/MPhil), supervising PhD students and MA Thesis, and teaching in Design and Technology subject areas.

I joined Portsmouth as a Senior Lecturer in 2016 following 3 years of teaching part-time at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. I'm a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have a Doctorate in Architecture, awarded by the University of Edinburgh 2016. My thesis focuses on strategies for the understanding of the architectural values of the early historic sites and their conservation. I also obtained a Master’s degree in Architectural Conservation at the University of Edinburgh in 2011. I graduated with a BA (Hons) from the School of Architecture, Al-Baath University, Syria in 2005, followed by a Diploma in Architectural Design in 2007.

Before commencing my postgraduate studies in the UK, I was involved in teaching as a design teaching fellow between 2006 and 2010 at the School of Architecture, Al-Baath University, Homs, Syria. In addition, I practised architecture during the same period through my own practice and the local city council.

Research interests
I am an architectural heritage scholar who has developed his leadership and research through local, national and international collaborations. I believe historic structures bear valuable knowledge of place, being authentic as their architecture is frozen, but their tangible and intangible significance is detached from contemporary debates. Therefore, my research focuses on setting a conservation framework to enhance the understanding of historic structures, landscape and ruins and their cultural values, and eventually contribute to their preservation and presentation. This multidisciplinary framework is based upon critical analysis of the building’s history, architecture and archaeology.

I advocate the development of sustainable conservation and adaptive reuse methodologies and holistic conservation approaches that balance heritage significance, community aspirations and needs and environmental requirements; I work on pushing forward conservation practices to meet the sustainability requirement, by doing so enabling heritage to contribute to the sustainable development goals. Therefore, my work concerns multi/inter-disciplinary approaches to heritage challenges and community engagement, informing the preservation of tangible and intangible heritage and its role in civic engagement and formal/informal education. My work on tangible and intangible heritage, digital preservation, community engagement and cultural mapping has enabled me to explore different historic and scientific contexts and diversify the methodological approaches to document, interpret, preserve, and communicate heritage values.

My virtual-modelling approach allows the appraisal of the conservation framework and the original architectural experience in its environmental and cultural conditions, and produces substantial material sufficient to engage local people, visitors, academics, conservation specialists and professional bodies in order to ensure constructive feedback on the conservation proposals and methodologies. Through cultural mapping and co-creation methodologies, I aim at grasping the intrinsic values that community and professional groups assign to historic structures, which facilitate the identification of contemporary social values of heritage and the exploration of effective conservation approaches. The creative and digital approaches to preservation contributes to conservation practice (testing interventions), promotes community engagement, and supports research inquiries. I have strategically promoted community-led heritage research, interdisciplinary teaching and extracurricular activities, so I am also interested in co-design and co-creation methodologies where students, professionals and local communities can play their role in identifying, preserving and regenerating their heritage.

Projects
UNPATH 'Unpath'd Waters': Marine and Maritime Collections in the UK, AHRC Towards a National Collection: Opening UK Heritage to the World
Enabling XR Enterprise (eXRe): Creating skills, boosting Communities and benefitting Visitor and Cultural Economy, UKCRF Community Renewal Fund
Regenerating Cities during Crisis: Culturally-Routed and sustainable strategies for Middle Eastern Cities, British Council Newton Fund
The Middle Eastern Heritage Research HUB, University of Portsmouth GCRF Funded
Rural Heritage for Civic Inclusion and Education, UoP TRIF Fund
Climate Resilient Urban Nexus Choices (CRUNCH), Economic and Social Research Council
Envisioning Future Green Cities: The Environment-Culture-Technology Nexus, University of Portsmouth GCRF Funded project

Publications
Teba, T., ElZoghby, N. & Gharib, N. (2022) The Role of Architectural Heritage in offering a more resilient lockdown in Egypt. In: Pisello, A. & Salama, A. (eds.) Health & Environmental Resilience and Livability in Cities (HERL) - The challenge of climate change. Advances in Science Technology and Innovation (ASTI).
Teba, T. (2020). Post-conflict Urban Resilience. In: Melis, A. (Ed) Resilient Communities. Italian Pavilion Venice Biennale 2021. D Editore
Teba, T. (2020). ‘Virtual reality can bring ancient cities back to life and improve conservation’, The Conversation.
Teba, T. & Theodossopoulos, D. (2019). ‘Reconstituting historical stratigraphy: Ugarit’s Temple of Dagan’, Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development.
Teba, T., Theodossopoulos, D. & Crow, J. 2016. Exposing the Sacred Monumentality in Ugarit: A Conservation Proposal for the Temple of Baal. SAHC 2016: 10th international conference on Structural Analysis of Historic Constructions. Leuven, Belgium.