Nicholas is Director of Studies for Architecture and an Affiliate Lecturer in the Department of Architecture. He is Chair of History and Theory at the Architectural Association and was formerly Assistant Professor of Global Urban Studies in Cambridge. He is an ethnographer and architect who combines economic anthropology and legal geography to understand how people repurpose planned cities, with a focus on property rights and citizenship. He has extensive field work experience in Cairo and Medellin, as well as in Mexico City, Doha, and Beirut. Nicholas develops original research methods to assess the plausibility of experimental planning policies, combining social science and speculative design.