Akkelies van Nes
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
Akkelies van Nes is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Business, Department of Civil Engineering, at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in Bergen, Norway. She is a leading international expert in space syntax and has played a key role in the field’s development through research, teaching, and international academic organizations. She chaired the 5th International Space Syntax Symposium in Delft in 2005 and the 13th International Space Syntax Symposium in Bergen in 2022, and also chaired the first international online Space Syntax PhD Congress in 2021. Her research focuses on developing and applying spatial analysis tools to built environments at multiple scales, linking spatial configuration with socio-economic data, mobility, energy use, urban centers, neighborhood safety, street life, urban regeneration, and sustainable urban development. She has been involved in several EU-funded research projects, including RUFUS, NODES, and SPACERGY. Her work applies space syntax across architecture, urban geography, urban sociology, real estate development, criminology, strategic planning, urbanism, and road engineering, and she actively contributes to research, consulting, and teaching on the built environment.
Kerstin Sailer
Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
Kerstin Sailer is a Professor in the Sociology of Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. An architect by training and a sociologist at heart, she has studied aspects of human behaviour and space usage throughout her career. Her research combines processes and practices of work, play and restoration with the architectural layout of buildings such as offices, hospitals, care spaces and schools. As an expert in space syntax, social network analysis and evidence-based design, her work builds bridges between architecture, sociology and organization studies. Among her more than 90 publications, her co-edited book ‘The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture’, published in 2022 by UCL Press emphasizes everyday relations in hospital spaces and how usage of space is an interconnected and relational process. Her research has been funded by both industry and research councils including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Innovate UK and Google. At the Bartlett she teaches on the MSc programme ‘Space Syntax: Architecture and Cities’. Kerstin has co-founded the think-tank brainybirdz to advance scientific thinking in workplace design. She also runs the blog http://spaceandorganisation.org and comments as @kerstinsailer on Bluesky and @kerstinsailer@sciences.social on Mastodon.
Baya Belmessaoud Boukhalfa
École Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme
Dr. Baya Belmessaoud Boukhalfa is an Algerian academic and Associate Professor at the École Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU), Algiers. Member of LAE Lab. Her work lies at the intersection of urban morphology, Islamic architectural heritage, and applied ethics. She developed innovative concepts such as ethical genotype of architecture and urbanism and ethical geometry, which explore how spatial configurations embody deep values like equity, humility, and democracy. Using space syntax methodologies, her research examines how urban form shapes social cohesion, health, and climate vulnerability. Dr. Belmessaoud’s work also critically addresses contemporary urbanism, highlighting the loss of ethical coherence in modern cities while drawing insights from traditional urban models (concepts of ethical reversal and urban cacography). Her contributions offer forward-looking frameworks for designing more just, sustainable, and human-centered cities, particularly in the Global South.
Tolgahan Çoğulu
Istanbul Technical University, Turkish State Conservatory of Music and Center for Advanced Studies in Music
Tolgahan Çoğulu stands as the first prize laureate of Georgia Tech’s Guthman Musical Instrument Competition in 2014 with his adjustable microtonal guitar, later securing the esteemed People’s Choice Award in 2021 with the "Lego Microtonal Guitar" which he designed with Atlas Çoğulu and Ruşen Can Acet. Çoğulu has performed at numerous festivals and universities across 38 countries, including notable appearances in Japan, Singapore, the United States, Mexico, China, Malaysia, Australia and many European countries. Actively engaged in expanding the repertoire for microtonal guitar, over 40 composers composed for him. In 2019, Tolgahan Çoğulu ascended to the position of Professor in Guitar at Istanbul Technical University’s Turkish Music State Conservatory. He established the world’s inaugural microtonal guitar department in 2014 and organized the first microtonal guitar festival and competition. In 2016, he completed a 12-month research project at the University of Bristol, titled ‘Historical Tunings on the Microtonal Guitar’ and in 2023 another 12-month research project at Cordoba Conservatory titled ‘Adaptation of Turkish Music Makams to Flamenco through the Microtonal Guitar’. He has published 6 albums and 5 books up to now. Recent concerts took place in Tokyo, Shanghai in 2025 and München on 23rd of May 2026.