Avrokómi Zavitsánou is an architect, a graduate of the Department of Architecture at the University of Thessaly, and holds a degree in Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. She also holds a Master's degree in Cultural Management from Panteion University and a PhD from the Department of Architecture at the University of Thessaly. She has been a scholarship recipient of the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) for her postgraduate and doctoral studies, as well as a scholarship recipient of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (ELIDEK) and the Research, Innovation and Excellence Unit (DEKA) of the University of Thessaly for her doctoral studies. She is a member of the research team of the Laboratory of Environmental Communication and Audiovisual Documentation (LECAD) in the Department of Architecture at the University of Thessaly. Her research interests focus on the field of "Architectural Design, Cultural Context, and New Technologies," and her professional interests include a variety of design projects of different scales: Architectural Research and Practice, Design and Curation of Publications, Shaping and Creating Elements of Visual Communication.

At the heart of my research lies the issue of managing digital, “intangible” art objects. Digital artistic explorations and emerging new technological applications lead to alternative approaches to traditional, Western practices of managing and preserving cultural production, and to the emergence of new forms outside the frameworks of official strategies, through individual, collective, decentralized initiatives and tactics. This transformation of the concept of preservation, a result of techno-cultural and techno-political changes/possibilities, is examined through the study of informal practices of preserving digital, “intangible” art objects.

More specifically, the study aims to explore the network of informal practices of digital art management/preservation and the spatial characteristics of a new mnemonic that emerges through it. By using the concept of the network, the inclusion of the correlations of a diverse and hybrid set of factors that influence the shaping of the field to be investigated is attempted, particularly the various spatial correlations, which emerge as an effect of the way these specific practices appear. It involves the emergence and construction of 'new' various mnemonic spaces, which are detected here as a result of actions and not as a means, as a vessel of actions. Essentially, the practices of managing the digital artwork are considered as generators of multiple new technical spatialities and objects: the goal of the dissertation is to redefine and reveal spatial qualities through the research scheme: digital art object - network of informal preservation /management practices - spatial effects/correlations – “new” digital art object: new preservation scheme.

The research design consists of two parts: the first is based on the use of Grounded Theory, a set of tools and techniques related to the collection, management, and analysis of research data, to explore informal practices. The second part involves investigating the spatial qualities (mnemonic spaces and objects) produced by these practices, within a new theoretical construction, an imaginary mnemonic architecture of the “intangible”.

Understanding the complex and hybrid nature of digital cultural production, and consequently of its management practices, leads to the need of inventing a new system of study/classification of emerging informal practices and mnemonic spaces. The research focuses on educational practices and specifically on informal forms of learning, within a creative approach to the research process, in order to address this issue through the shift of the concept of the informal from the field of education to that of preservation. The transfer of models, categories, and concepts between scientific fields significantly affects the process of knowledge production and reveals new manifestations of a known phenomenon or creates the new vocabulary of an emerging one, in this case, a new theoretical schema of preservation.

In summary, the research endeavour is defined as a study of informal preservation practices, which are detected using the analytical techniques of Grounded Theory, and then structured from the multiple theoretical readings of the new digital mnemonic terrain and the new digital art object (detection of spatial dimensions/effects), attempting to highlight the coexistence of various correlations in the preservation of digital cultural memory. Through the mapping of these new practices, mnemonic spaces, and objects, the emergence of a new, constantly changing network of digital memory preservation becomes distinct, a network that allows free interconnection and circulation within it, enhancing multiplicity and heterogeneity: a fluid schema of preservation - a fluid mnemonic of the “intangible”.

2024, Managing the Intangible: Digital Art Preservation Practices, PhD, University of Thessaly, Department of Architecture
2021, Annual Pedagogical Training Program, Higher School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPAITE)
2017, Certification of Educational Competence for Adult Educators, National Organization for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance (EOPPEP), Ministry of Education, Research, and Religious Affairs (Certification Code: EB34020)
2015, Department of Architecture, Bachelor’s Degree & Integrated Master , University of Thessaly, Greece
2012, Master’s Degree in Cultural Management , Department of Communication, Media and Culture, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences
2008, Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, Bachelor’s Degree , Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Greece

av.zavitsanougmail.com

2021 - 2024, MUSEE: Understanding Museum Architecture for Digital Experiences
Position: Researcher
Funding Body: 2nd Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty Members and Researchers. HFRI (Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation) & GSRT (General Secretariat for Research and Technology)

2020 - 2023, Escape through Culture: Development of an advanced, innovative, and state-of-the-art digital educational escape games infrastructure for the promotion of the country's cultural heritage, in both Greek and English.
Position:  Researcher
Funding Body: Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds, through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK- 02992)

2020 - 2023, Colour & Travel: Design and Development of an Infrastructure for Travel Applications with Entertaining and Playful Features
Position: Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds, through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: T2EDK-01042)
Funding Body: Scientific Supervisor & Project Coordinator

2019 - 2019, Representations and Interaction of the Greek Landscape in Video Games
Position: Researcher
Funding Body: Research Committee - University of Thessaly

2018 - 2021, Augmented corporeal experiences in the hyper-tectonic environment of a digital platform
Position: Researcher
Funding Body: Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI)

Architectural Design III-V B
Design Methodologies

2021 - 2022,  Teaching Assistant – Museology II, Department of Architecture, University of Patras, Greece.

2018 - 2019,  Teaching Assistant – Architectural Design IV-VI Th: Landscapes in Motion, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Greece.

2017 - 2018, Teaching Assistant – Architectural Design IV-VI Th: Landscapes in Motion, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Greece.

2016 - 2017, Teaching Assistant – Architectural Design IV-VI Th: Landscapes in Motion- Ilissos, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Greece.

2015 - 2016, Teaching Assistant – Architectural Design IV-VI Th: Landscapes in Motion – The River Studio/Cayasta, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Greece.

2015 - 2016, Teaching Assistant – Narratives and Spatial Representations: From Experimental Cinema to Video Games, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Greece.

Zavitsanou A., Papadopoulos S., Alexandridis, T., (2022) «Development of a playful network for the production of informal cultural narratives: the case of the Colour & Travel mobile application»,4th International Conference Digital Culture & Audio-Visual Challenges Interdisciplinary Creativity in Arts and Technology, Corfu, Greece, Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University (under publication).

Zavitsanou A., Papadopoulos S., Alexandridis, (2022) «Colour & Travel: Design and Development of an Infrastructure for Travel Applications with Entertaining and Playful Features»,ICCHTA 2022: International Conference on Cultural Heritage Technologies and Applications, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 41-46, online issn: 1307-6892.

Papadopoulos S., Zavitsanou A.,Mantzari E., Bourdakis V., Vagelatos A.,(2022) «Escape Through Culture: Gamified Cultural Experiences»,ICDCH 2022: International Conference on Digital Cultural Heritage, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 36-40, online issn: 1307-6892.

Zavitsanou A., Papadopoulos S.,(2021) «The informal fragmented spaces of memory: Rejecting digital art»,3rd International Conference Digital Culture & Audio-Visual Challenges Interdisciplinary Creativity in Arts and Technology, Corfu, Greece, Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University.(under publication).

Papadopoulos S., Loukou M., Zavitsanou A., (2018) «Technologically mediated participatory and performative artistic expressions as social educational tools»,Ιnternational Conference, Digital Culture & Audiovisual Challenges, Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University, p. 221-227, ISSN: 2732-9038, ISBN: 978-960-7260-68-0.

Zavitsanou A., Papadopoulos S., Memory, space, technology: Contemporary preservation practices of digital art, 5th Panhellenic Planning and Regional Development Conference, Volos, Greece. University of Thessaly Publication (pp. 1295-1305) ISBN978-960-99226-6-1.

Papadopoulos S., Malakasioti, A., Loukou M., Zavitsanou A., The identity of the Greek landscape in arcade games, 2nd Panhellenic Place Marketing and Place Branding Conference, Larisa, Greece, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, ISBN 978-618-593-62-63.

Papadopoulos S., Zavitsanou A., Loukakis G., The use of game engines as educational tools for the design of digital environments, 3rd International Congress on Ambiances: Ambiances, Tomorrow, Volos, Greece, International Ambiances Network & University of Thessaly, Greece, pp  497-502, ISBN: 978‐2‐9520948‐6‐3.

Papadopoulos S., Loukakis G., Zavitsanou A., Electronic games as interpretative tools for the construction of digital cultural environments, Panhellenic Conference on Digitization of Cultural Heritage, Volos, Euromed 2015, pp  197 – 203, ISBN: 9789609386005.

2021,  Papadopoulos S., Bourdakis V., Loukakis G., Zavitsanou A., "Research practices and creative applications at EPEOT (University of Thessaly)," 2nd DESIGN WEEK THESSALONIKI, 2021.

2021,  Zavitsanou A., "Informal frameworks of constructing augmented narratives and producing new mnemonic places: Designing Colour & Travel" at the Scientific Workshop "And yet it moves: Augmented Narratives," Volos, University of Thessaly, 2021.

2019,  Zavitsanou A., Papadopoulos S., Zervas A., Makri V., «Digital Storytelling of multicultural diversities: Evaluation of an intercultural educational methodology in adult education», Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations, University of Patras, 2019.

2019,  Zavitsanou A., "Towards an ecology of practices for preserving the art of new media," Archaeological Dialogues 2019, Volos, University of Thessaly.

2018,  Zavitsanou A., "Towards an ecstatic approach: Bodies, rituals, and digital installations," at the Scientific Workshop "And yet it moves: Disposable bodies," Volos, University of Thessaly, 2018.

2019-20, Scholarship for doctoral studies, Research, Innovation, and Excellence Structure (ΔΕΚΑ), University of Thessaly.

2017-18, Scholarship for doctoral studies, Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.).

2010-2017, Scholarship for postgraduate studies of first and second cycle, State Scholarships Foundation (I.K.Y.)