Mark Shtanov

I am an architect and a doctoral researcher due to complete my PhD in early 2026. The PhD uses ethnographic and creative methods to examine the disposal of imported anatomical specimens at the British waste incinerators. Bridging between waste and death studies, the project demonstrates the importance of waste labour and infrastructure for the global economies of human tissue and healthcare. The PhD format is by publication with some chapters being submitted in a graphic novel format. As a keen advocate of multi-modal ethnographic methods, I co-run the regular Manchester-based ‘Draw Your Research’ workshops.

Between 2018 and 2024 I progressed from an assistant to a senior architect at TP Bennett, designing buildings in education, hospitality, and residential sectors, alongside doing the PhD. In 2017 I set up no.balsa as part of which I have run over twenty creative design workshops focused on intuitive model-making at ten architecture and art schools. This network continues to expand.

I completed my MPhil at the University of Cambridge in 2018. The MPhil thesis, Another Hotel in Africa, received a commendation at the RIBA President's Medals in 2018 and led to two publications.