University of Sydney appoints new Penelope Seidler Visiting Professor

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The University of Sydney has appointed Claire Zimmerman as the second Penelope Seidler Visiting Professor in Architectural History.

The visiting professor program, funded through a $1 million donation, aims to bring international scholars to the university to conduct research and discussions on the history of architecture.

Zimmerman is director of the PhD program at the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. She will also be the Robert A.M. Stern Visiting Professor at Columbia University later in 2024. Her work focuses on the "protocols of modernisation and modernity" in architecture and the built environment.

"I am honoured and delighted to be returning to Sydney as the Penelope Visiting Professor at the University of Sydney," Zimmerman said.

"I hope to build on my previous experience in Australia, and to engage in a robust exchange of ideas about built environments and their histories with colleagues, staff, students and interested citizens of Australia. I am excited to be with you again."

Zimmerman was a collaborator of the late Jean-Louis Cohen, the inaugural Penelope Seidler Visiting Professor, who passed away in 2023. Her three-week program will include an event to discuss the book she and Cohen collaborated on called Detroit-Moscow-Detroit, as well as a public lecture on Albert Kahn.