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BIO:

Davi Xavier is an architect, educator, and researcher with experience in architectural design, critical theory, and urban practice. He holds a B.Arch. in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Federal University of Paraíba (2010).

Xavier’s work focuses on socially responsive design, emphasizing housing, urban density, and the relationship between architecture and socio-spatial dynamics. His approach combines design theory and spatial analysis to explore how built environments can promote both functionality and social impact, improving urban, economic, and community outcomes. As founding partner of the award-winning firm DLMA, he specializes in architecture, housing, and urban planning.

Before joining UNL, he served as an assistant professor of practice at Texas A&M University, where he taught architectural design courses.

TEACHING
Davi believes that architectural education today must evolve to keep pace with the dynamic intersections of architecture, technology, society, and culture. While traditional approaches have focused on technical skills and design proficiency, he sees a growing need to emphasize interdisciplinary thinking, collaboration, and a strong sense of social responsibility in the studio and classroom.

His teaching philosophy invites students to question conventional boundaries and to see design as a tool for imagining new possibilities. By connecting core design principles with contemporary ways of thinking, Davi encourages students to consider how architecture can shape environments that meaningfully respond to the cultural and social contexts of our time. He views fiction—not as fantasy, but as a productive design strategy—as a powerful way to explore and propose alternative futures through architecture.
 

RESEARCH
Davi Xavier’s research investigates the spatial and social implications of architecture when it extends beyond the scale of individual buildings to operate as part of urban infrastructure. His work focuses on how architecture can actively reconfigure city structures through layered housing typologies that integrate public, communal, and private spaces in innovative ways.

He explores how densely organized housing systems can be designed not only to address urban density but also to redefine relationships between inhabitants and their environments. By examining the thresholds between private dwellings, public interfaces, and shared urban commons, Davi aims to reimagine the spatial logic of cities—blurring distinctions between individual and collective domains.

Through visual and theoretical explorations, Davi analyzes how expanding the physical and conceptual limits of key architectural elements can generate a multiplicity of interconnected spatial experiences. This approach reveals alternative models of city organization that emphasize new possibilities for spatial occupation, mobility, and socio-spatial equity. Ultimately, his research positions architecture as a transformative force within urban systems, capable of reshaping how people inhabit, move through, and share the built environment.

PRACTICE
Founded in 2013, Xavier’s firm, DLMA, focuses on developing a design approach that closely connects architecture to its surroundings, aiming to create positive urban, economic, and social impacts for the site. The firm specializes in residential buildings, public spaces, and community projects and has received several awards, including honors from the Brazilian Institute of Architects (IAB/PB), which is similar to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in the United States.

DLMA’s work is based on ongoing critical reflection on architectural ideas and methods, seeing them as flexible and evolving. This approach reflects the firm’s Brazilian background while also drawing from North American professional and academic experiences. By combining design work, teaching, and research, DLMA explores the changing role of architects today. The firm aims to encourage thoughtful discussion in architecture and support conversations about important and lasting issues in the field.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1. Xavier, D. L.V., Loureiro, L.C.C. (2023). Density as Opportunity: Rethinking Housing Equality. UIA World Congress 2023. Design For Resilient Communities, Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer: Switzerland, pp 567-581.
2. Xavier, D. L.V., Loureiro, L.C.C., Borges, A.B. (2023). Mnemosyne and the Hybrid Experiments on Tradition. Proceedings of the National Conference on the Beginning Design Student: Known and Unknown Territories. pp. 321-330
3. Xavier, D. L.V., Loureiro, L.C.C., Borges, A.B., Batarse, A. (2022). The New Tent: Architecture as Social Infrastructure. Proceedings of the 110th ACSA Annual Meeting. pp. 156-160