Dr. Ileana Apostol
Ileana Apostol is an urban researcher focusing on the production of space in contemporary cities, in particular on the relationship between social norms and spatial forms. She is co-founder of the Zurich-based research association NetHood and engages with neighbourhood action groups and research teams to explore ways of living sustainably in the city. Through participatory practices and transdisciplinary research, the tools developed at NetHood enable people to make contacts in their localities, to learn together and self-organise around common action. They take the form of real-life projects like those that Ileana Apostol co-initiated in Zurich’s Kreis 5, the L200 collective space, ongoing since 2018, and the ParLa neighbourhood project since 2017.
At ETH Zurich Ileana Apostol was a senior researcher in spatial planning (2011–2013, 2015) and lecturer at the Chair of Sociology, Department of Architecture, from 2020 to 2024. Previously she taught as assistant professor in urban planning and design in Los Angeles at California Polytechnic University (2006–2008) and University of Southern California (2001–2005), and in Bucharest at the University of Architecture and Urbanism (1995–2000). Ileana Apostol is trained in spatial planning (PhD University of Southern California, Los Angeles, MSc University of Stuttgart, MU UAUIM Bucharest), urban design and architecture (BArch UAUIM Bucharest, ENSA Paris-Belleville).
As an active member of the INURA network, Ileana Apostol co-organised the INURA conferences in Bucharest-Sibiel (2016) and Zurich-Salecina (2023). For the AESOP association she worked alongside the secretary general (2010–2011). Since 2018 she is a member of the Foreigners’ Advisory Council, an advisory commission of Zurich’s government.
Ileana Apostol: Website
International Network for Urban Research and Action INURA