Areas of expertise
Emma's research expertise covers the design of law courts and public architecture.
Membership of professional bodies
Emma is a member of the European Architectural History Network and the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand. Emma is also a member of the
Court of the Future Network
(an international research network that aims to increase discussion and dialogue between architects, researchers, judges, court administrators and policy-makers), and an
associate researcher of
L'Institut des hautes études sur la Justice.Consultancy
Invited Research Projects
2018 Courts Services Victoria - Project:
Developing a Co-Design Policy Vision for the Design of Courthouses: understanding the needs of court users
Role: Lead Investigator (research team included five academics across two institutions).
2017 NSW Department of Justice - Project:
Framework, foundations and design exemplars for AVL suites in juvenile and adult custody settings.
Role: Chief Investigator (Lead Investigator: Dr Rohan Lulham, UTS, collaborating with seven other academics across two institutions).
2017 NSW Department of Justice - Project:
Initial Environmental Standards for AVL Justice.
Role: Chief Investigator (Lead Investigator: Dr Rohan Lulham, UTS, collaborating with seven other academics across two institutions).
Presentations to Peak Bodies and Government Departments and Agencies
Emma has also been invited to give presentations or act as a research consultant to several peak bodies and government departments, including the NGO pressure groups The Howard League for Penal Reform and JUSTICE, as well as the Ministry of
Justice (UK), the NSW Justice Department and the Australian Court Administrators Group.
Conferences
Conference Organisation
Emma has assisted in the organisation of several international academic conferences that explore the intersection between architecture and justice. These include the
Architecture, Law and the Senses Symposium
(3-4 September 2014, UTS, Sydney) and the
Evidence of Bodies | Bodies of EvidenceSymposium
(10 March 2013, UTS, Sydney), the
Ninth Annual Jury Conference
(The Mint, Sydney, 15 July 2011) and the
Third Justice Environments Conference
(World Square, Sydney, 20-22 May 2010). Emma was also on the organising committee for several Court of the Future Network Executive Research Court Tours, including the
Montreal and New York City Court Architecture Tour
(2013); the
Spain, Luxembourg and Germany Court Architecture Tour
(2011); the
Victorian Court Architecture Tour
in Melbourne (2009) and the
International and European Courts Executive Research Tour
(2008).
Conference Presentations
Emma has made over 20 presentations at public conferences, symposia and events, with many of them being invited presentations. Highlights include:
Stein, J.A. & Rowden, E. (2017). ‘Talking spatial memory: Workers, inmates and institutional buildings’. Presented at the
Oral History Australia Conference, Sydney: 13–16 Sep 2017 (16 Sep 2017).
Rowden, E. (2017). ‘Experiencing Court: accessing the voice of lay users’. Invited presentation at the
Space of Justice Symposium, La Trobe University, Melbourne: 5–7 Jul 2017 (7 Jul 2017).
Mulcahy, L. & Rowden, E. (2016). ‘Unicorns and Urinals: why do modern courts look the way they do?’ Invited presentation at the
Architectures of Law: Courts, Space and Legal Legitimacy Symposium, University of Cambridge, Cambridge: 7 Jul 2016.
Mulcahy, L. & Rowden, E. (2015). ‘Unicorns and Urinals: Foucauldian methodology and the apparently unimportant minutiae of the Court Design Guides’. Invited presentation at the
Sources and Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice Conference, The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, London: 19 Oct 2015.
Mulcahy, L. & Rowden, E. (2015). ‘Unicorns and Urinals: why do modern courts look the way they do?’ Invited presentation at
The Digital Panoptican Workshop: The History of Crime and the Courts in Three Dimensions, University of Sussex, Brighton: 20 Oct 2015.
Rowden, E. (2013). ‘A relic of barbarism: attempts to remove the dock from the criminal trial in New South Wales’. Presented at the
Evidence of Bodies | Bodies of Evidence Symposium. The Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney: 10 Apr 2013.
Rowden, E. (2012). ‘The Gateways to Justice Project: operational and design guidelines to help improve video-mediated communications for justice participants’. Invited presentation at the
Videoconferencing in Courts Symposium, Institut des Hautes Études sur la Justice, École de Droit de la Sorbonne, Paris: 28 Jun 2012.
Farbstein, J., Bocchiaro, I. I. I. J., Willard, J. & Rowden, E. (2012). ‘Video Technology and the Transformation of Tomorrow’s Courthouse’. Presented at the
Academy of Architecture for Justice, The American Institute of Architects Fall Conference Community Dialogue: Architecture for Justice and Renewal. Toronto Hilton, Ontario, Toronto: 11-13 Oct 2012 (12 Oct 2012).
Rowden, E. (2009). ‘Virtual Courts: Here, There and Everywhere’. Presented at the
Architecture and Justice Conference. Lincoln University, Lincoln: 25–27 Nov 2009 (26 Nov 2009).
Other experience
Emma has experience in architectural practice, predominantly working for the studio of Diane Jones at PTW Architects (Sydney, Australia). Here she worked mainly on projects in the following sectors: heritage, justice environments, hospitals,
age-in-place developments and international competitions (including the finalists round of the Barangaroo development).