Monika Szopińska-Mularz is a lecturer in architecture at Rzeszów University of Technology and a Chartered Architect whose expertise centers on adaptive reuse, sustainable urban regeneration, and controlled environment agriculture. With academic and professional experience spanning architectural practice, design studio leadership, research supervision, and project coordination, she has contributed to diverse architectural projects in healthcare, housing, office design, and the revitalization of urban structures. Her research advances innovative strategies for repurposing modern movement car-parking structures into productive urban assets, reflected in her numerous publications in international journals and a monograph on adaptive reuse for urban food provision. She serves as the principal investigator of an international research consortium developing decision-support tools for urban food-production infrastructures and actively participates in professional and academic committees. Her scholarship integrates research-for-design and research-by-design methodologies, supported by extensive case studies, interviews, and design scenario development. She is a member of the Polish Architects’ Association, the Cluster for Sustainable Cities, and the UK Urban AgriTech collective, and she has contributed to editorial and review activities through her involvement in academic conferences and collaborative publications. Her work has been recognized through distinctions such as the Polityka Science Award finalist honor and international design competition recognition, underscoring her impact on sustainable architectural innovation. Her research impact includes 25 citations, 14 publications, and an h-index of 3.
Profiles: Scopus | ORCID | Google Scholar
Featured Publications
1. Szopińska-Mularz M., Prokop A., Wikiera M., Bukowy W., Forsman F., Adaptive reuse of urban structures as a driver of sustainable development goals: a systematic literature review. Sustainability, 2025.
2. Szopińska-Mularz M., Lehmann S., Urban farming in inner-city multi-storey car-parking structures: adaptive reuse potential. Future Cities Environ., 2019.
3. Szopińska-Mularz M., Lehmann S., Balancing increased urban density with green spaces: the marketing of new housing estates in Poland. Buildings, 2023.
4. Szopińska-Mularz M., Adaptive reuse of modern movement car parking structures for controlled environment agriculture: results from an interview study for the innovative design process in cities. City Cult. Soc., 2022.
5. Szopińska-Mularz M., Adaptive Reuse for Urban Food Provision. Cities and Nature, Springer International Publishing, 2022.
Her work advances scientific understanding of adaptive reuse by integrating architectural innovation with sustainable urban food systems, offering evidence-based frameworks that strengthen urban resilience. Through research-driven design methodologies, she provides pathways for cities to repurpose underused infrastructures into productive assets that enhance environmental, social, and economic sustainability.