PhD Researcher Nikolas Kanavaris

Nikolas is an architect, performance designer, and researcher dedicated to exploring the intersections of participatory design, common space, scenographic, and performative practices. He is currently doing PhD studies at Hasselt University, and he is a Marie-Curie fellow in the REWORLDING doctoral network. He holds a Master’s degree from the interdisciplinary program Design-Space-Culture and a degree in Architecture from NTUA, with further specialization in scenographic and costume design at the National Theatre of Greece.

His work theoretically and practically investigates space, urbanity, performance, and design. On the theoretical side, he has explored the concept of the commons, publishing Refugee Housing Squats as Shared Heterotopias in Housing as Commons (Bloomsbury) and contributing to the Greek translation of Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons by Silke Helfrich and David Bollier (Nefeli Editions). In the realm of performance design, his study Scenography as a Living Transformer of Theatrical Space: The 'On Stage' Spatialities of Giorgos Patsas and Dionisis Fotopoulos appeared in Theatralia Vol. 27, No. 1 (2024).

Practically, his contributions span the arts (Trust in Play: European School of Urban Game Design), teaching (focusing on housing issues), and activism. Based in Brussels/Athens, Nikolas works as an architect and scenographer. As a member of the Cultural group B.P.M., he has curated sets and costumes for several productions. He participated in the Greek pavilion, a Rare Gathering, at the 2023 Prague Quadrennial with the performance With the Bees or the Wolves. He has collaborated with renowned institutions such as the National Theatre of Greece, Eleusis Festival, and Olympia Theatre.