Rate My Professor Van Bremen

Dr. Ingrid van Bremen serves as Adjunct Senior Research Fellow and Casual Teaching staff in the UWA Design School at the University of Western Australia. She earned her BArch (Hons) from UWA between 1980 and 1984, followed by a PhD in Architectural History from the UWA Design School, awarded on 2 November 1990. Her doctoral thesis examined the New Architecture of the Gold Boom in Western Australia, focusing on government buildings constructed under the direction of G.T. Poole from 1885 to 1897. Registered as an architect after completing her practice exam in 1992, van Bremen began teaching conservation units at the UWA School of Architecture in 1987. She held the position of Honorary Research Fellow until 2018, transitioned to Adjunct Senior Lecturer in 2019, and continues her academic contributions through specialized teaching and research. Born in 1958 in Bunbury, Western Australia, she completed her primary, high school, and two gap years in Albany before pursuing architecture studies. Early in her career, she worked with conservation specialist architect Rob Campbell while completing her PhD.

Van Bremen's research centers on the history of architectural design and construction in Western Australia and the philosophy of conservation worldwide. She has published the seminal series Western Building Construction, comprising Roofs (2014), Walls (2016), and Floors & Ceilings (2020), crafted for architectural conservation education at UWA and as practical references for professionals. Other key works include An Architectural Language for Townscape in Fremantle (2016). Ongoing projects involve surveying lime usage in Western Australian conservation efforts since 1990, cataloguing paint colours from historic buildings to develop a state-specific traditional palette, detailed studies on coloured finishes for stucco and cement render in WA, and monitoring townscape changes in Fremantle while developing a townscape guide. Her influence extends through teaching courses such as Graduate Certificate in Architectural Conservation, ARCT5575 Practical Building Conservation, ARCT5576 Introduction to Architectural Conservation, and ARCT5577 Conservation in Cultural Landscapes, Historic Towns, and Urban Precincts. Van Bremen is a member of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), ICOMOS, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI), Australian Garden History Society, Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ), National Trust WA, and Heritage Skills Association WA. She has received the Western Australian Heritage Awards Professional Contribution Award in 2022 and the Margaret Feilman Award in 2019.