I graduated from the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Aberdeen, in 2002, having studied at undergraduate level in Architecture with Languages and then Advanced Architectural Studies at postgraduate level.

I also spent an academic year studying at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble, and a further year in practice in Clermont-Ferrand, France. This varied pedagogical experience has, in part, fuelled my current research interests in the portrayal of spirituality and religion through architecture; from the transcendentality of the French Gothic cathedrals and the related ingenuity of the master masons; to the experiment that was ecclesiastical architecture through Modernism, as an expression of a changing socio-political climate.

I am currently midway through research for my thesis, which aims to demonstrate that the ecclesiastical work of Jack Coia (winner of the 1969 RIBA Gold Medal) is deserving of recognition within an international context, by focusing on his oeuvre of designs for the Roman Catholic Church.

The connection to Coia's Italian heritage and my recent tenure as Rome Scholar in Architecture at The British School at Rome (2009), have also prompted exciting research into the rich development of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, in the context of the twentieth century.

I achieved professional recognition as an architect in late 2004, and have benefitted from diverse cultural and programmatic experience, including places of worship, education, housing, domestic, masterplanning, retail and commerce.

I am currently part of the BA1 and BA2 staff teams at the MSA, teaching part-time whilst progressing my thesis research.

Research

Exhibitions

Robertson, JD., 2015. Our lives are full of remarkable coincidences, British School at Rome.

Book Chapters

Holdaway, D., 2015. 'Rome, Postmodern Narratives of a Cityscape'. In Rome, Postmodern Narratives of a Cityscape, pp. 137-154, Routledge.

Journal Articles

Robertson, J., 2020. 'Choreographing the Liturgy : Exploring continuity, change and the liturgy in the ecclesiastical buildings of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia', The Innes Review, 71 (2), pp. 237-269.

Robertson, J., 2019. 'Tradition & Transition: Gillespie, Kidd & Coia', The Modernist, 31.

Theses and Dissertations

Djabarouti, J., 2021. 'The impact of intangible heritage on architectural and building conservation practices in the UK: a socio-material outlook'.