The Department of Architecture of the University of Thessaly, along with the laboratory, administrative, research and teaching staff, expresses its deep sorrow for the loss of our beloved colleague, Associate Professor Irene (Rena) Fatsea.
Irene (Rena) Fatsea has been one of the key faculty members of the Department from its third year of operation (2001). Her contribution to shaping the unique character of the Department was immensely significant as she defined the teaching approach to the field of History of Architecture through its broad understanding within the context of cultural transformations. Her teaching through field trips and design practices closely engaging with the historical architectural environments, reshaped the epistemological connection between Architecture's past and present. Rena Fatsea’s dedication to her teaching, the seriousness and care with which she approached her courses as well as her insightfulness in evaluating academic and research projects, and in the selection of new colleagues for positions in history and theory of architecture, serve as both an example and a legacy for architecture studies and university education in Greece.
Irene (Rena) Fatsea was a registered architect-engineer in Greece with a specialization in architectural History & Theory (PhD). She held a Diploma of Architecture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma (USA).
Her doctoral studies at both Georgia Tech and MIT provided a clear historiographical direction to her research, which have since focused on the intercultural exchanges between Greece and Europe through architecture, primarily in modern times.
Her doctoral thesis (MIT, 2000) is entitled “Monumentality and its shadows: a quest for modern Greek architectural discourse in 19th-century Athens (1834-1862)” and addresses the problem of the belated development of architectural discourse in the newly established Greek state as a result of the equally belated formation of the architectural discipline.
She has taught in various architecture schools both in the US as a visiting professor for 7 years (MIT, Suffolk U., Roger Williams U., North Carolina State U.) and in Greece as an assistant and associate professor since 2001, more specifically in the Department of Architecture of the University of Thessaly, and only for the period 2009-2018 in the respective school of NTUA.
Her published work includes scientific articles in journals, collective volumes, and conference proceedings, as well as book-editing and translation on a wide range of topics referring to the history and theory of architecture. She has participated in numerous international scientific events on the same subject, for the most part through a blind peer-review process.
Her work has received considerable distinctions on both the pre- and post-doctoral stages, including the annual fellowship of the Center for Greek Studies of Princeton University (2000-01) in recognition of the best doctoral thesis on a modern Greek subject, a sponsored research fellowship at the Getty Research Institute (spring 2011), and the International Travel Award of the Nineteenth-Century American Studies Association (2012). Her article entitled “The building of the Athenian Academy by Theophil Hansen in the context of nineteenth-century romantic classicism”, which was written first for the exhibition catalog honoring the 200th birthday of the Danish architect (V&M Theocharakis Foundation, Athens 2014) is being published in a revised form by the British Journal Art in Translation (Edinburgh U., Routledge, Getty Center), whose mission is “the publication in quality English language translation of the most significant and interesting articles on visual culture presently available only in their home-languages”.
We say goodbye to Rena with profound sadness. Her kindness, dedication, and unwavering academic and scientific integrity will remain with us always. Her presence is truly irreplaceable.