Dr. Michele Lamprakos has been promoted to associate professor by the University of Maryland’s Architecture Program. An accomplished architect and architectural/urban historian, Dr. Lamprakos shares her research and extensive practical knowledge of architectural design, adaptive reuse and preservation of urban conditions both in the U.S. and abroad. She specializes in cultural heritage and the critical role it plays in modern cities, with a focus on both the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Prior to the University of Maryland, Lamprakos taught at Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has co-organized two international symposia: “Heritage and the Arab Spring” at Washington, D.C.’s Freer Gallery of Art and "Conserving the City: Critical History and Urban Conservation” at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lamprakos’ current research on the Great Mosque of Cordoba looks at the changing fabric and meaning of the building through the centuries: as Catholic cathedral, historic monument and symbol of the Islamic past in Spain. It is currently being developed into a book. Her 2015 book, Building a World Heritage City, was recently awarded the Spiro Kostof Award, Honorable Mention, by the Society of Architectural Historians.