Christina Priavolou
Postdoctoral Researcher
Environment
I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow leading the SMARTACULAR project. My research explores the intersections of sustainability, technology, and participatory design in the built environment. As a Research Fellow at TalTech, I coordinated the Sustainability Stream of the ERC-funded COSMOLOCALISM project, exploring how the commons can serve as a foundation for a sustainable economy.
I am also affiliated with the research collective P2P Lab, within which I have conducted participatory action research at the rural Tzoumakers makerspace in Greece and coordinated the Distributed Design Platform project, focusing on open and collaborative approaches to design and production.
Brief research statement
Through SMARTACULAR, I investigate how local knowledge, modern technologies, and participatory design can converge to make construction practices more sustainable and locally grounded. The project aims to move beyond “smart” solutions toward more situated design approaches, bridging global sustainability goals with local realities and daily practices.
RESEARCH FOCUS
Sustainable design, context-appropriate practices, urban transitions, vernacular knowledge
Relevant publications
Priavolou, C. (2025), Can Smart Technology and Traditional Wisdom Craft Truly Sustainable Built Environments?, Building and Environment, 267, 112205.
Kouvara, A., Priavolou, C., Ott, D., Scherer, P, van Zyl-Bulitta, V.H. (2023), Circular, Local, Open: A Recipe for Sustainable Building Construction, Buildings, 13(10), 2493.
Priavolou, C., Troullaki, K., Tsiouris, N., Giotitsas, C., & Kostakis, V. (2022), Tracing sustainable production from a degrowth and localisation perspective: A case of 3D printers, Journal of Cleaner Production, 376, 134291.
Priavolou, C., Tsiouris, N., Niaros, V. and Kostakis, V. (2021), Towards sustainable construction practices: How to reinvigorate vernacular buildings in the digital era?, Buildings, 11(7): 297.
Priavolou, C. (2020), To BIM or not to BIM? Lessons learned from a Greek vernacular museum building, AIMS Environmental Science, 7(2): 192-207.
