Miyuki Aoki Girardelli

Miyuki Aoki Girardelli is Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University. Her interdisciplinary research bridges architectural history, cultural heritage, Ottoman and Japanese studies, focusing on transnational exchanges of art and architecture.

Education:

• PhD in Art History, Istanbul Technical University (2002)
• Master’s degree, Waseda University (1995)
• Bachelor’s degree, Waseda University (1993)

Research Interests: Dr. Girardelli investigates the intersections of Ottoman and Japanese visual cultures, diplomatic architecture, Japonisme, Orientalism, and the mobility of art objects across the Mediterranean and East Asia. She explores how architectural forms and decorative arts mediated diplomatic relationships and cross-cultural perceptions from the 19th century to the present.

Her work delves into architects’ travelogues—especially Itō Chūta and Le Corbusier—and analyses of Léon Parvillée’s French-Ottoman productions, revealing layered narratives of identity, modernity, and heritage conservation.

Scientific Awards:

• Kinokuniya Humanities Books of the Year 2017 – Kinokuniya Company LTD
• Incentive Award 2000 – East Japan Railway Culture Foundation

Advising & Grants: She has supervised graduate theses including Women Icon Painters of the Late Ottoman Era and the Meiji Era (2025) and Tsuchiura Nobuko: Redefining housing and architecture through the female lens (2024), guiding students in art-historical and architectural research that expands gendered and cross-cultural perspectives.

Editorial & Exhibition Leadership: Girardelli co-edited Japanese Wind at the Ottoman Palaces (2016) and Crescent and Sun: Three Japanese in Istanbul (2010), curating scholarly dialogues and exhibitions that bring Japanese-Ottoman encounters to wider audiences.