Lucélia Taranto Rodrigues

Lucélia Taranto Rodrigues is a lecturer in Architecture at Nottingham University. Originally from Sao Paolo in Brazil, she specialises in ‘green’ architecture and sustainability.

In her short ‘See Britain’ film, Lucélia says she chose to study in the UK as it offered the best sustainable architecture course. She talks about the UK’s strong moves to address the carbon challenge by encouraging a more sustainable way of life, and about how being in Britain has changed her in a positive way, both professionally and personally. Watch the film below.

Speaking about living in the UK, Lucélia says, "It has opened my eyes to a huge world that is out there. It now feels a lot smaller, a lot closer because I can have it all here. I never felt so close to other cultures as I do here. And my level of tolerance and acceptance has changed immensely and I’m a completely different person. Now, I cannot tolerate prejudice of any kind to anyone."

Despite the country having a reputation of being traditional in many ways, she feels the UK is leading the way in its approach to energy efficient housing.

Lucélia qualified as an architect and urban designer in 1999 and spent the next five years working in practice on residential and commercial building projects where, among other things, she acquired a large amount of experience in the use of recycled and reclaimed materials in modern architecture.

To develop her knowledge of sustainable issues further, she then completed an MSc in Renewable Energy & Architecture. She has subsequently explored the influence of Modern Methods of Construction on the thermal performance of buildings as part of her Doctoral research.

Lucélia has been informally teaching and tutoring in the School of the Built Environment at Nottingham University for the last four years and has been a full time member of the staff since autumn 2008. She has consistently focused on environmental design and bioclimatic architecture, building on the link between architecture, construction services and renewable energy technologies.