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Professor Theodore Zamenopoulos

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Professor of Citizen-led Design
  • Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • School of Engineering & Innovation
  • theodore.zamenopoulos

Professional biography

Theodore Zamenopoulos is Professor of Citizen-led Design at the Open University. He is a professional architect and holds a PhD in Architecture from UCL, where he studied at Bartlett School of Graduate Studies and the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. He first joined the Open University as a research fellow in 2005 working in UK and EU funded research projects focussed on design, complexity research and education.

Research interests

His research focuses on the empowerment of people to engage and lead the design of places.

He studies the cognitive, social, political and technological dimensions of places that may inhibit or unlock the human power to design. In this context, he focuses on the development of places that foster design thinking in everyday life. He has been leading or participating in a number of research projects around the themes of civic engagement and leadership in design.

His research embraces a variety of methods, including: design led research approaches, co-design, participatory action research methods as well as empirical studies of design cognition using brain-imaging (fMRI), computational and mathematical models of design cognition.

Since 2011 he has been involved in a number of AHRC funded research projects under the Connected Communities program that focus on the themes of civic engagement in design, citizen-led design, creative citizenship and community-led design. In his projects there is often an emphasis on developing community-academic partnerships and exploring the relation between academic research and community relevance.

Teaching interests

Theodore is currently module team chair of T217: Design Essentials of which he was the production chair. He is also module team member of T218: Design for Engineers.

He previously chaired the T211 course: Design and Designing and was member of the award board of U101: Design Thinking. 

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
Design GroupGroupFaculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology

 

Externally funded projects

Rules of Thumb
RoleStart dateEnd dateFunding source
Lead01 Jun 201531 Aug 2015AHRC Arts & Humanities Research Council

This research project aims to explore the transposition of the practice of hitchhiking to stimulate creative thinking and innovation in the development of housing co-operatives. The key research questions are: What are the structural and cultural imperatives of the practice of hitchhiking? To what extent is it possible to transpose such knowledge, methods and practices into the development of housing co-operatives? The research team will examine the history and practice of hitching and develop and evaluate a practical toolkit by working together with housing co-operatives. The project is a collaboration between University of Brighton, University of Lancaster, University of Edinburgh, The Open University and The Glass-House Community Led Design.

Connected Communities & Design Highlight: Empowering Design Practices: historic places of worship as catalysts for connecting communities
RoleStart dateEnd dateFunding source
Lead21 Oct 201420 Oct 2021AHRC Arts & Humanities Research Council

Empowering Design Practices is a five-year research project exploring historic places of worship and their potential as community resources. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and includes the following partners: The Open University, Historic England, the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance, Heritage Lottery Fund and The Glass-House Community Led Design. Through this collaboration, the project aims to explore how community-led design can help empower those who look after historic places of worship to create more open, vibrant and sustainable places that respect and enhance the heritage. The project also aims to build national capacity for community-led design practice by developing open educational resources and training for design students, communities, as well as the professionals and support bodies who work with them. More information: http://empoweringdesign.net

Publications

Is designing therapeutic? A case study exploring the experience of co-design and psychosis (2023)
Renedo Illarregi, Erika; Alexiou, Katerina; Di Malta, Gina and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
Psychosis, 15(3) (pp. 277-291)

Design Capital: Unearthing the Design Capabilities of Community Groups (2022)
Alexiou, Katerina; Hale, Veronica and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
International Journal of Design, 16(2) (pp. 33-46)

Types, obstacles and sources of empowerment in co-design: the role of shared material objects and processes (2021)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Lam, Busayawan; Alexiou, Katerina; Kelemen, Mihaela; de Sousa, Sophia; Moffat, Sue and Phillips, Martin
CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 17(2) (pp. 139-158)

Collective Design Anticipation (2020-04-20)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
Futures, 120, Article 102563

Empowering design practices: exploring relations between architecture, faith, society and community (2020)
Alexiou, Katerina; Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Hale, Vera; West, Susie and de Sousa, Sophia
Open Arts Journal, Article 5(9)

Design creativity, technical execution and aesthetic appeal: a CAT with caveats (Part 2) (2018)
Jeffries, K. K.; Zamenopoulos, T. and Green, A. J. K.
International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 6(1-2) (pp. 66-79)

Design and Creative Methods as a Practice of Liminality in Community-Academic Research Projects (2018)
Lam, Busayawan; Phillips, Martin; Kelemen, Mihaela; Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Moffat, Susan and de Sousa, Sophia
The Design Journal, 21(4) (pp. 605-624)

Learning from the use of media in community-led design projects (2015)
Alexiou, K.; Alevizou, G.; Zamenopoulos, T.; de Sousa, S. and Dredge, L.
Cultural Science, 8(1) (pp. 30-40)

The FuturICT education accelerator (2012-10)
Johnson, J.; Buckingham Shum, S.; Willis, A.; Bishop, S.; Zamenopoulos, T.; Swithenby, S.; MacKay, R.; Merali, Y.; Lorincz, A.; Costea, C.; Bourgine, P.; Louçã, J.; Kapenieks, A.; Kelly, P.; Caird, S.; Bromley, J.; Deakin Crick, R.; Goldspink, C.; Collet, P.; Carbone, A. and Helbing, D.
European Physical Journal - Special Topics, 214 (pp. 215-243)

A complexity theory of design intentionality (2012-06-10)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore
Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 26(1) (pp. 63-83)

Involvement of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in ill-structured design cognition: An fMRI study (2010)
Gilbert, S.; Zamenopoulos, T.; Alexiou, K. and Johnson, J.
Brain Research, 1312(C) (pp. 79-88)

Exploring the neurological basis of design cognition using brain imaging: some preliminary results (2009)
Alexiou, K.; Zamenopoulos, T.; Johnson, J. H. and Gilbert, S. J.
Design Studies, 30(6) (pp. 623-647)

Design as a social process: a complex systems perspective (2008-08)
Alexiou, Katerina and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
Futures, 40(6) (pp. 586-595)

Towards an anticipatory view of design (2007-07)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
Design Studies, 28(4) (pp. 411-436)

Rethinking the cybernetic basis of design: the concepts of control and organisation (2007)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
Kybernetes, 36(9/10) (pp. 1570-1589)

Co-design As Collaborative Research (2018-09-30)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
Connected Communities Foundation Series
ISBN : 978-0-9935528-3-0 | Publisher : Bristol University/AHRC Connected Communities Programme | Published : Bristol

Varieties of Creative Citizenship (2016-04-06)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Alexiou, Katerina; Alevizou, Giota; Chapain, Caroline; Sobers, Shawn and Williams, Andy
In: Hargreaves, Ian and Hartley, John eds. The Creative Citizen Unbound: How social media and DIY culture contribute to democracy, communities and the creative economy (pp. 103-128)
ISBN : 978-1447324959 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol

Asset mapping and civic creativity (2016-04-06)
Alexiou, Katerina; Aguista, Emma; Alevizou, Giota; Chapain, Caroline; Greene, Catherine; Harte, Dave; Ramster, Gail and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In: Hargreaves, Ian and Hartley, John eds. The creative citizen unbound: How social media and DIY culture contribute to democracy, communities and the creative economy (pp. 181-204)
ISBN : 978-1447324959 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol

Civic cultures and modalities of place-making (2016-04-06)
Alevizou, Giota; Alexiou, Katerina; Harte, Dave; Sobers, Shawn; Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Turner, Jerome
In: Hargreaves, Ian and Hartley, John eds. The creative citizen unbound: How social media and DIY culture contribute to democracy, communities and the creative economy (pp. 205-230)
ISBN : 978-1447324959 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol

Conversations about co-production (2016)
Green, Catherine; Sobers, Shawn; Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Chapain, Caroline and Turner, Jerome
In: Hargreaves, Ian and Hartley, John eds. The creative citizen unbound: How social media and DIY culture contribute to democracy, communities and the creative economy (pp. 153-181)
ISBN : 978-1447324959 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol

From networks to complexity: two case studies (2016)
Harte, David; Dovey, John; Aguista, Emma and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In: Hargreaves, Ian and Hartley, John eds. The creative citizen unbound: How social media and DIY culture contribute to democracy, communities and the creative economy (pp. 129-152)
ISBN : 978-1447324959 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol

Wards Corner Community Plan Case Study (2014-09-18)
Alexiou, Katerina; Alevizou, Giota and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In: Lockton, D; Greene, K.; Casey, A; Raby, L and Vickress, A eds. Variety Pack: Inspiring Digital Ideas From Community Projects
ISBN : 978-1-907342-97-4 | Publisher : Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design | Published : London

Complexity: what designers need to know (2012-03)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
In: Garner, Steve and Evans, Chris eds. Design and Designing: a Critical Introduction
ISBN : 9781847885760 | Publisher : Berg

A complexity theoretic view of cities as artefacts of design intentionality (2012)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
In: Portugali, Juval; Meyer, Han; Stolk, Egbert and Tan, Ekim eds. Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age: An Overview with Implications to Urban Planning and Design (pp. 327-346)
ISBN : 978-3-642-24543-5 | Publisher : Springer | Published : Berlin

Imaging the designing brain: a neurocognitive exploration of design thinking (2011)
Alexiou, Katerina; Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Gilbert, Sam
In: Gero, John S. ed. Design Computing and Cognition '10 (pp. 489-504)
ISBN : 9789400705098 | Publisher : Springer | Published : London

Embracing complexity in design: emerging perspectives and opportunities (2010-01)
Alexiou, Katerina; Johnson, Jeffrey and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In: Inns, Tom ed. Designing for the 21st century: research methods & findings (pp. 87-100)
ISBN : 9781409402404 | Publisher : Gower Ashgate | Published : United Kingdom

The influence of complexity science in design: theoretical and methodological tools (2010)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
In: Tsoukala, K.; Daniil, M. and Pantelidou, H. eds. Postmodern Approaches
ISBN : 9789604582631 | Publisher : Epikentro | Published : Thessaloniki, GR

The mathematical conditions of design ability (2009-09-07)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In: Alexiou, Katerina; Johnson, Jeffrey and Zamenopoulos, Theodore eds. Embracing Complexity in Design (pp. 95-119)
ISBN : 9780415497008 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Embracing complexity in design (2007-12)
Johnson, Jeffrey; Alexiou, Katerina; Creigh-Tyte, Anne; Chase, Scott; Duffy, Alex; Eckert, Claudia; Gascoigne, Damian; Kumar, Bimal; Mitleton-Kelly, Eve; Petry, Michael; Qin, Sheng Fen; Robertson, Alec; Rzevski, George; Teymour, Necdet; Thompson, Avril; Young, Robert; Willis, Mateo and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In: Inns, Tom ed. Designing for the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Questions and Insights (pp. 129-149)
ISBN : 9780566087370 | Publisher : Gower Publishing Limited | Published : Aldershot

Computer-aided creativity and learning in distributed cooperative human-machine networks (2003-10-13)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
In: Chiu, M-L.; Tsou, J-Y.; Kvan, T.; Morozumi, M. and Jeng, T-S. eds. Digital Design: research and practice, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures (pp. 191-201)
ISBN : 1-4020-1210-1 | Publisher : Kluwer Academic Publishers | Published : Dordrecht, The Netherlands

Structuring the plan design process as a coordination problem - the paradigm of distributed learning control coordination (2003-07-01)
Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alexiou, Katerina
In: Longley, Paul A. and Batty, Michael eds. Advanced Spatial Analysis: The CASA Book of GIS (pp. 407-426)
ISBN : 1589480732 | Publisher : ESRI Press | Published : U.S

Embracing complexity in design (2009-09)
Alexiou, Aikaterini; Johnson, Jeffrey and Zamenopoulos, Theodore eds.
ISBN : 978-0-415-49700-8 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : UK

Incubating civic leadership in design: The role of cross-pollination spaces (2022-06-25)
Alexiou, Katerina; Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Hale, Veronica and de Sousa, Sophia
In : DRS2022 (25 Jun - 3 Jul 2022, Bilbao, Spain)

Co-design as healing: A multi-level analysis based on a project with people facing mental health problems (2022-06-25)
Renedo Illarregi, Erika; Alexiou, Katerina and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : DRS2022 (25 Jun - 3 Jul 2022, Bilbao, Spain)

Facilitators and drivers of low-carbon and energy residential developments (2022-06)
Polycarpou, Kyriacos; Francart, Nicolas; Malmqvist, Tove; Burnley, Stephen; Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Moncaster, Alice
In : Energy and Climate Transformations: 3rd International Conference on Energy Research & Social Science (20-23 Jun 2022, Renold Building, University of Manchester, UK)

Co-design for wellbeing with mental health participants: from identifying a problem to creating prototypes (2020-09-04)
Renedo Illarregi, Erika; Alexiou, Katerina and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : Design 4 Health (2020, Amsterdam - Online publications only) (pp. 23-30)

Why designing may help treat psychosis (2019)
Renedo Illarregi, Erika; Alexiou, Katerina and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : International Association of Societies of Design Research Conference 2019 (2-5 Sep 2019, Manchester)

Methods for researching and building capacity in codesign among non-experts (2019)
Alexiou, Katerina and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : International Association of Societies of Design Research Conference 2019 (2-5 Sep 2019, Manchester)

Unearth Hidden Assets through Community Co-design and Co-production (2017-07-28)
Lam, Busayawan; Zamenopoulos, Theodore; Kelemen, Mihaela and Hoo Na, Jea
In : EAD Conference (12-14 Apr 2017) (S3601-S3610)

Creative communities, creative assets: exploring methods of mapping community assets (2013)
Greene, Catherine; Alevizou, Giota; Ramster, Gail; Alexiou, Katerina; Zamenopoulos, Theo; Outten, Alan and Corzannelli, Cristina
In : Nordes2013: Experiments in Design Research: Expressions, Knowledge, Critique (9-12 Jun 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark/Malmö, Sweden)

Subtle interventions: How ambient displays influence route choice in buildings (2011-09-21)
Varoudis, Tasos; Dalton, Nicholas; Alexiou, Aikaterini and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : Respecting Fragile Places - 29th eCAADe Conference (21-24 Sep 2011, Slovenia) (pp. 933-941)

The learningscape of a virtual design atelier (2010-07-07)
Hart, Jennefer; Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Garner, Steven
In : 8th eLearning@Greenwich conference (7 Jul 2010, University of Greenwich, UK)

Design education, design research (2009-09)
Holden, Georgina; Schadewitz, Nicole and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : Designs on Elearning (02-04 Sep 2009, Online)

Towards an online design studio: a study of social networking in design distance learning (2009)
Schadewitz, Nicole and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
In : International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) Conference 2009 (18-22 Oct 2009, Seoul, South Korea)

Enabling integrative leadership and cross-sector design collaboration: insights from the Cross-pollination project. AHRC Place Programme Policy Brief (2024)
Alexiou, Katerina; Hale, Vera; de Sousa, Sophia and Zamenopoulos, Theodore
The Open University

Making sense of assets: Community asset mapping and related approaches for cultivating capacities (2016-02-28)
Alevizou, Giota; Alexiou, Katerina and Zamenopoulos, Theo
The Open University and AHRC

Valuing Community-Led Design (2013)
Alexiou, Katerina; Zamenopoulos, Theodore and Alevizou, Giota
AHRC Discussion Paper