Dr Martin Michette

Martin teaches short online courses in Architectural History, as well as leading classes on several award bearing courses at Oxford Lifelong Learning. He welcomes expressions of interest from potential DPhil students wishing to research topics that broadly relate to his expertise.

Current DPhil Students

• Simon Nightingale: A History of Clay Roofing in England
• Jonathan Lipsitz: Material Engagement Theory and the Psychiatric Facility
• Dena Ziari: Psychiatric Aberrations of the Urban

Besides classroom and online teaching, Martin values teaching in the field. He is the co-founder of the Academy of Conservation and Care for the Environment (ACCE), an award-winning transdisciplinary capacity building programme for the integrated management of cultural heritage and the natural environment. ACCE uses high- profile heritage sites and cultural landscapes as ‘living labs’ for building cross- sector knowledge and skills in young professionals and early career academics. Disciplines range from architecture and archaeology, to environmental science and climate activism.

Martin’s research identifies and promotes synergies between low energy technologies, cultural heritage, and natural systems. The aim of these synergies is to help reduce the environmental impact of historic buildings, protect and enhance the significance of heritage assets and landscapes. His methods combine non-destructive, surveying and monitoring techniques with analytical and conceptual approaches to modelling heritage environment systems. Martin is a member of Oxford Resilient Buildings and Landscapes at the School of Geography and the Environment.

Current projects

• CLIMATE Arch examines dynamic relationships between climatic conditions, climate change and vernacular architecture in the Alps and the Himalayas. As the effects of climate change and extreme weather events become increasingly evident in mountainous environments, they are triggering specific adaptations to the design, structure, material constitution, usage and protection of vernacular buildings. These transformations take place through complex interactions between environmental, social, economic and technical fields, and it is these dynamics that provide the principle focus of the research.
• SXNCH – Sites at the Intersection of Natural and Cultural Heritage is a globally engaged research group and growing network, based at the University of Oxford. Our aim is to better understand the entanglement of the natural and historic environment, and build sector resilience by fostering interdisciplinary knowledge exchange and diversifying participation in heritage management.

 Peer reviewed articles 

• Coombes, M. A., Michette, M., & Viles, H. A. (2026). Including Built Heritage in Environmental Improvement and Nature Recovery: Exploring the Challenges. The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice, 17(1), 184–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/17567505.2026.2645533  

• Michette, M., Breuninger, T., Kilian, R., Nickmann, M., Thuro, K., & Ziegert, C. (2023). Assessing the suitability of local earth resources for use in clay barriers to protect historic masonry in Pompeii. Environmental Earth Sciences, 82(7), 178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10842-1  

• Cianciolo Cosentino G., Kastenmeier P., Wilhelm K., Michette M., Kilian R., & Wolf G. (2023). Interdisciplinary reading of the restoration and musealization history of Pompeii: The Herculaneum gate as a heritage environment system. Vesuviana, 13, 73. DOI: 10.19272/202110301003 https://www.academia.edu/107941754/Herculaneum_Gate_Environment_in_Pompeii  

• Michette, M., Viles, H., Vlachou, C., & Angus, I. (2022). Do environmental conditions determine whether salt driven decay leads to powdering or flaking in historic Reigate Stone masonry at the Tower of London? Engineering Geology, 303, 106641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2022.106641  

• Michette, M., Viles, H., Vlachou, C., & Angus, I. (2021). In Situ, Non-Destructive Testing for Evaluating the Role of Pointing Mortar in Preventive Conservation Strategies. A Case-Study on Reigate Stone at the Wardrobe Tower, Tower of London. Minerals, 11(4), 345. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040345  

• Michette, M. (2021). Integrating non-destructive techniques into the scientifically robust assessment of vulnerable historic masonry: Case studies on Reigate Stone. Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation, 10(3), 242. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9daa9b7e-a27a-4c2c-92ff-608b248ce082  

• Michette, M., Viles, H., Vlachou-Mogire, C., & Angus, I. (2020). Assessing the long-term success of Reigate Stone conservation at Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London. Studies in Conservation, 65(sup1), 225. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2020.1752427  
• Michette, M., Viles, H., Vlachou, C., & Angus, I. (2020). The many faces of Reigate Stone: an assessment of variability in historic masonry based on Medieval London’s principal freestone. Heritage Science, 8, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-020-00424-w
• Michette, M., Bichlmair, S., & Kilian, R. (2018). Diagnosing decay mechanisms at the Porta Nocera Necropolis, Pompeii: the first step towards effective preventive conservation. Studies in Conservation, 63(sup1), 195-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2018.1473197 
• Michette, M., Lorenz, R., & Ziegert, C. (2017). Clay barriers for protecting historic buildings from ground moisture intrusion. Heritage science, 5, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-017-0144-3 

Book chapters 

• Feiglstorfer, H., & Michette, M. (2025). Arga stone roofs and floors in Tibet and beyond: A material trans-cultural approach in: Feiglstorfer, H., & Blaikie, C,. (eds). Building craft traditions in Tibetan and Himalayan Architecture, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. https://doi.org/10.1553/978OEAW95382 

• Michette, M. (2020). Using local geo-materials to protect built heritage. Some insights from an ongoing project to install a clay barrier at the Via Nucerina, Porta Nocera in: Cianciolo Cosentino, G., Kastenmeier, P., & Wilhelm, K.. (eds). The multiple lives of Pompeii: surfaces and environments, Arte’m.