ESRA SERT

She holds a PhD. in Architecture from METU (2020) with a dissertation titled "Urban Metabolism of İstanbul: Waterfronts as Metabolized Socio-Natures between 1839 and 2019". In 2013, she completed her master’s thesis entitled "Rain Water in the Energy Efficient Urban Landscape Design" at the Istanbul Technical University Landscape Architecture Department and BA (2008) at the YTU Department of Architecture in İstanbul in 2008. During her MA, she got scholarships from TUBİTAK for the research projects. She has been researching urban ecology, urban metabolism, urban environmental history, alternative architectural practices, ethics in design and the labor processes of architecture. Besides, she was a fellow of "İstanbul Studies Center" Doctoral Residency Program at KHAS (2019-2020). She enjoys collaborative, creative, and community-engaged multidisciplinary research. Her work has been published in the Journal of Urban History, Planning Perspectives, Moment Journal, Arredamento Mimarlık magazine, Praksis and METU JFA. She has been awarded a grant by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) in 2024. During the 2025–26 academic year, she will be a fellow at the Laboratory for Urban Spatial + Landscape Research at The New School in New York. While in residence at the Lab, Prof. Sert will focus on a project titled We Live in an Estuary, drawing comparisons between the estuaries of Istanbul and New York City.

Urban Studies, Urban Ecology, Urban Metabolism, Urban Environmental History, Ethics in Architecture, Alternative Architectural Practices, Labor and Work Processes in Architecture, Society and Environment, Architectural Design, Urban Political Ecology, Energy Efficient Urban Landscape Design, Urban Water infrastructure, Urban History.