The Department of Architecture is delighted to announce that student Agoston Horanyi has been selected to receive an AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award/Vice-Chancellor’s Award Studentship to undertake a PhD in Architecture beginning in the 2026–27 academic year.
Agoston joins the department with an interdisciplinary academic and professional background spanning fine art photography, languages, sustainability studies, and urban research. Originally from Budapest, he first studied fine art photography before moving to the UK to read Chinese and French at Durham University, followed by a master’s degree in sustainability studies at University of St Andrews.
“While I think I’ve always known that one day I’d apply to do a PhD – it just seemed to be the next logical step that follows a master’s degree – the focus of this future adventure has changed substantially over the years,” Agoston said.
After completing his master’s degree, Agoston stepped away from academia to gain professional experience internationally. He later joined the Berlin-based studio of Olafur Eliasson as a researcher, working across art, sustainability, philosophy, and the social sciences. During this time, he also published a paper in the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, an experience that ultimately encouraged him to pursue doctoral research.
“Although the idea of pursuing a PhD in architecture might sound like yet another new direction in my academic wanderings, I actually see it as a crossroads, where various former paths converge – an interdisciplinary field, where critical cultural and sustainable (urban) studies meet political ecology and aesthetics,” he said. “As such, it truly does feel like the next logical step.”
In his doctoral research, Agoston will investigate how commoning practices can challenge capitalist planning mechanisms to generate more inclusive and adaptive forms of policymaking that strengthen and empower communities. His work will focus on processes of participation and governance rather than fixed policy outcomes, contributing to emerging debates around post-growth urbanism and socially driven policymaking.
Agoston will undertake his PhD under the supervision of Professor Flora Samuel.
“I’m excited to be joining the department under the supervision of Professor Flora Samuel and look forward to getting to know the wider research community at Cambridge,” he said.