Walking, Observing, Connecting, Belonging: Propositional Map Making in the City

About the Project

This project marks the latest phase in the development of the 'Propositional Walking Map' (PWM), a new form of city walking map that I have created. The PWM acts as a stimulant to new ways of assimilating the Everyday City, prompting and structuring experiences using observational and narrative techniques made accessible through walking.

The PWM is informed by my creative practice, initiated in 2005, which includes Public Walking Workshops, Map-Making, Map-Reading, Exhibitions and their related documents and publications. The work has been carried in collaboration with public bodies and institutions in London including London Legacy, The Design Museum and Kensington Palace. Further afield the approach has been adapted and carried out with local walking activists in Barcelona, Antwerp, Hamburg and Manila.

Propositional Walking Maps intend to make novel connections between individual, everyday, interactions and their tactile presences in disparate parts of the city. A collection of 'Self Cities', woven together in the PWM, sets in motion dialogues between experiential and critical factors, questioning and enhancing these 'Self Cities' stimulates a rich and varied sense of belonging.

The purpose of this project is to explore the propositional potential of walking maps through innovative qualitative and arts-based methodologies that combines, shapes, tests and shares personal collections of experiences of a 'Self-City' gained through walking. The project invites doctoral researchers to propose modes of self and city discovery through the exhaustion of London or other cities, through rigorous fieldwork documentation, diagramming, map-making and the curation of mixed-media for exhibitions and publications.

https://oliverfroome-lewis.com/

University of Reading:

The University of Reading, located west of London, England, is ranked at 172 globally, according to the QS World University Rankings 2025. 98% of research at the University is of international standing (REF 2021, combining the University’s world leading, internationally excellent and internationally recognised submissions). The University’s main Whiteknights Campus is set in 130 hectares of beautiful, award-winning parkland, less than a 30-minute train ride to London Paddington and is approximately 30 miles from London Heathrow airport.

During your PhD at the University of Reading, you will expand your research knowledge and skills, receiving supervision and training in a number of different forms. We also provide dedicated training in important transferable skills that will support your career aspirations. If you need to develop your academic English skills before you start your studies, then the University has an excellent Global Academy which can help with this.

Eligibility:

• Applicants should have a Masters degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate subject, or a First Class degree with a research component. A strong record of practice based work and/or research is highly desirable.
• International applicants will also need to meet the University’s English Language requirements. We offer pre-sessional English courses that can help with meeting these requirements.

*The University of Reading is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and non-discriminatory treatment for all members of its community.*

How to apply:

Submit an application for a PhD in Architecture via our online application system.

Further information:

Architecture PhD webpage

Enquiries:

Dr Oliver Froome-Lewis e-mail : o.froome-lewis@reading.ac.uk