Research Bio

Diana Martinez is an architectural historian whose work examines the architecture, urbanism, infrastructure of US Empire, focusing on the US colonial period in the Philippines. Her research considers the agency of architects, institutions, and materials in the construction and constitution of the built environment, paying special attention to issues of race and racialization.  

Her teaching and research investigate the aesthetics, politics, and technics of architectural design, and draws upon a diverse set of archives, in order to develop new readings and analyses of the built space that surrounds us. 

Martinez is an Assistant Professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Architecture. She has contributed to a number of publications on US architecture and urbanism. 

Research Expertise and Interest

architecture, Philippines, race and empire, United States history, race and ethnicity