Dr. Jiayi (Jennifer) Jin is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. Her research is transdisciplinary spanning the fields of architectural and planning theories, digital technologies, sustainable development and participation in planning processes.

Before joining Northumbria, she engaged in several research projects at the Mixed Reality Laboratory (MRL), University of Nottingham. She also worked on various museum and exhibition projects to facilitate situated, embodied, and performative interactions in different museums or cultural venues in UK, UAE and China. She founded an architecture and idea studio inter-lab in 2014 for research and professional practice projects.

Her research focuses on the role of new media and technologies in knowledge production and socio-spatial linkage generation, inclusive innovation with architectural or urban environments, and creative participation for sustainable, inclusive city development, in response to social (gender), spatial and environmental inequalities.

She is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) for AHRC project: ‘Participatory Neighbourhood Planning for the ‘Brown to Green’ Transition in Tyneside’ (Grant Ref: AH/Y000250/1), 2023-2024.

PI for Northumbria seed fund project Gender-inclusive Cities, 2022-2023 and Co-I for British Academy project: Developing a Grassroots Sustainable Futures Platform: Collective Participation in Community-Based Cultural Organisations (CEoN) (Grant Ref: SSF/210084), 2022-2023.

She also received multiple awards and funds when collaborating with museum institutions, this includes Newcastle Culture Investment Fund (2021), Early Career Artist Bursary, Digital Culture Award (England Arts Council, 2019), etc.

In terms of university leadership and teaching, Jiayi was the Studio Lead of a MArch Studio: Performing Architectures (2018-2022), Acting Programme Lead for Master of Architecture (2021-2022). She teaches widely across the department, including BA Architecture and MArch studios, BA Architecture communications, MArch theory modules, and Ph.D. supervision. 

Jiayi welcomes applications for conventional & practice-as-research PhD proposals within her research fields.