Ann Heylighen

Ann Heylighen is a design researcher with a background in architectural engineering. Her research explores how the experience of people with various abilities, ages and perspectives may expand prevailing ways of understanding and designing space.

As a professor of design studies at KU Leuven, Department of Architecture, Heylighen co-chairs with Andrew Vande Moere the multidisciplinary Research[x]Design group at the interface of design studies and social sciences/humanities, and she teaches courses on design theory, professional ethics and inclusive design.

Heylighen studied architectural engineering at KU Leuven and ETH Zürich, holds a PhD from KU Leuven, and conducted research at Harvard University and UC Berkeley. She is a Fellow of the Design Research Society, and associate editor of Design Studies. For her research on design and disability, the European Research Council awarded her a Starting and a Proof-of-Concept Grant.