AMBER PATTERSON-OOI
cultural anthropologist
E: [email protected]
M: +995 551 532 546
About
I am a cultural anthropologist whose work sits at the intersection of the built environment, material culture, and sensory ways of knowing. My research is broadly concerned with how embodied narratives relate to the creation and experience of spaces – not only architectural, environmental, and urban spaces, but also through conceptualisations of interiority.Before turning to social inquiry, I spent a decade working across theatre, fine arts, and cultural event management — a background that continues to inflect my attention to performance, atmosphere, and the bodily dimensions of space. I hold a Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology), a Postgraduate Diploma in Production (Cultural Event Management), and a Master of Arts by Research (Anthropology).I am currently Principal Researcher at Wei Yap Architects, where I work with the design team to integrate ethnographic and cultural analysis into architectural practice — a role that reflects my broader commitment to bringing anthropological thinking into direct dialogue with the built world.
research
PhD project: "Aqueous Terrains: Hydro-social Narratives of Contemporary Water Architecture."Through long-term ethnographic fieldwork across Australian and European water-centric housing developments, my research will examine how domestic architectures mediate human-water relationships and how both individual and communal acts of placemaking at the confluence of land and water are produced, sustained, and narrativised.
WORKS & PUBLICATIONS
Master's Thesis: Love, Grief, and Materiality: Interior Narratives and the Making of Home in Singapore, Master of Arts by Research (Anthropology), La Trobe University 2026. Chapter excerpts available on request.Conference Presentation: Inter-Surfacing, Y-Conference, Yerevan, 2026. Available on request.Journal Article: Patterson-Ooi, A., & Araujo, N. (2022). Beyond Needle and Thread: Communicating and Contesting Identity in Haute Couture. M/C Journal, 25(4).