Larissa Arakawa Martins

Research Interests

Architectural Design Architectural Science and Technology Architecture Built Environment and Design Civil Engineering Energy Knowledge Representation and Machine Learning Neural, Evolutionary and Fuzzy Computation Neurocognitive Patterns and Neural Networks Structural Engineering Urban Design

Dr Larissa Arakawa Martins

Adjunct Lecturer

School of Civil Engineering and Construction

College of Engineering and Information Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Dr Arakawa Martins holds an Adjunct Lecturer position in the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. She is also a McKenzie Research Fellow, based at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne, Victoria.
 
She is an experienced researcher, educator, architect and civil engineer. She has experience working in built environment related research in South Australia, having collaborated on high-impact research projects focussing on housing, indoor environmental quality, environmentally sustainable design (ESD), energy efficiency and building performance simulation for current and future climates. She has authored and co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed research publications on these topics, translating her broad knowledge of both quantitative (e.g., building monitoring, building simulation and statistical methodologies, including machine learning applications for predictive modelling) and qualitative (e.g., co-design, focus groups, community engagement and knowledge translation) approaches to research.
 
Her main area of interest currently is the analysis of indoor environmental quality in housing for older people to improve their health and wellbeing outcomes.

My research and teaching focuses on:

  • Building physics
  • Building performance simulation
  • Indoor environmental quality
  • Human thermal comfort modelling
  • Machine Learning applications for thermal comfort modelling
  • Building life-cycle analysis
  • Circular economy
  • Sustainable and passive design and practice

Date Position Institution name
2025 - ongoing McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow University of Melbourne
2025 - ongoing Adjunct Lecturer The University of Adelaide
2022 - 2025 ARC-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow The University of Adelaide
2020 - 2022 ARC-funded Research Assistant The University of Adelaide
2018 - 2018 Associate França e Associados Projetos Estruturais
2017 - 2018 Business Analyst Accenture
2017 - 2017 Trainee Companhia City
2015 - 2016 Intern França e Associados Projetos Estruturais
2013 - 2014 Intern Produtime Gestão e Tecnologia

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2023 Award Best Paper and Presentation Award - Co-authored with V Soebarto, T Williamson, D Pisaniello, R Visvanathan Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA) Australia -
2022 Award Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence The University of Adelaide Australia -
2021 Award Adelaide Graduate Award The University of Adelaide Australia -
2020 Award Best Presentation (1st Runner Up) The Architectural Science Association Australia -

Language Competency
English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
French Can read, write, speak and understand spoken
Portuguese Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
Spanish - Latin American Can read, write, speak and understand spoken

Date Institution name Country Title
2018 - 2022 University of Adelaide Australia PhD in Architecture
2016 - 2016 University of Mogi das Cruzes Brazil Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering
2012 - 2013 Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium Exchange Program in Architecture
2009 - 2015 University of Sao Paulo Brazil Bachelor's Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning, with Double Qualification in Civil Engineering

Date Title Institution Country
2018 - 2018 Jóvenes Líderes Iberoamericanos 2018 Fundación Carolina Spain
2014 - 2014 SEAS/POLI-USP Collaborative Field Course - Urban Adaptation to Climate Change: Resilient Cities Harvard University United States

Date Title Institution name Country
2011 Certification in Building Accessibility City Department of People with Disabilities and Reduced Mobility Brazil

Year Citation
2025 Kroll, D., Sharifi, E., Arakawa Martins, L., Croffi Calixto, J., & Soebarto, V. (2025). Flipped townhouses: the impact of layout changes on heating and cooling energy load and occupants’ thermal comfort. Architectural Science Review, 1-16.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2025 Arakawa Martins, L., Visvanathan, R., Pisaniello, D., Williamson, T., & Soebarto, V. (2025). A focus group study of the thermal environments of houses of older people with low socioeconomic status. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 40(4), 1-29.
DOI
2025 Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., Martins, L. A., Visvanathan, R., & Pisaniello, D. (2025). An investigation of the relationships between indoor environmental conditions, thermal comfort and wellbeing of older occupants: Impact of frailty level. Building and Environment, 285(Part B), 113594-1-113594-15.
DOI
2024 Cabanas Grandío, P., Pierre, B., Bisignani, G., Cuneo, A., Papp, R., Schrader, J., & Lau, D. H. (2024). Sudden arrhythmic death in patients with syncope and implantable cardiac monitor. Heart Rhythm O2, 5(11), 821-824.
DOI Scopus1
2022 Hansen, A., Williamson, T., Pisaniello, D., Bennetts, H., Arakawa Martins, L., van Hoof, J., . . . Soebarto, V. (2022). The Thermal Environment of Housing and Its Implications for the Health of Older People in South Australia: A Mixed-Methods Study. Atmosphere, 13(1), 96-1-96-22.
DOI Scopus29 WoS20
2022 Arakawa Martins, L., Williamson, T., Bennetts, H., & Soebarto, V. (2022). The use of building performance simulation and personas for the development of thermal comfort guidelines for older people in South Australia. Journal of Building Performance Simulation, 15(2), 149-173.
DOI Scopus9 WoS8
2022 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., & Pisaniello, D. (2022). Personal thermal comfort models: a deep learning approach for predicting older people’s thermal preference. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 11(2), 1-26.
DOI Scopus18 WoS15
2022 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., & Williamson, T. (2022). Performance evaluation of personal thermal comfort models for older people based on skin temperature, health perception, behavioural and environmental variables. Journal of Building Engineering, 51, 1-20.
DOI Scopus37 WoS34
2022 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., & Williamson, T. (2022). A systematic review of personal thermal comfort models. Building and Environment, 207, 20 pages.
DOI Scopus159 WoS144
2021 Arakawa Martins, B., Barrie, H., Visvanathan, R., Daniel, L., Arakawa Martins, L., Ranasinghe, D., . . . Soebarto, V. (2021). A multidisciplinary exploratory approach for investigating the experience of older adults attending hospital services. Health Environments Research and Design Journal, 14(1), 141-163.
DOI Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC2
2020 Bennetts, H., Arakawa Martins, L., van Hoof, J., & Soebarto, V. (2020). Thermal personalities of older people in South Australia: A personas-based approach to develop thermal comfort guidelines. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8402-1-8402-22.
DOI Scopus39 WoS33 Europe PMC5

Year Citation
2025 Nakajima, J., Arakawa Martins, L., & Silveira Martins, M. (2025). Manual de Boas Práticas - Montagem das Armaduras de Estruturas de Concreto Armado - Volume Único. França e Associados Projetos Estruturais.
2022 Nakajima, J., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2022). Manual de Boas Práticas - Montagem das Armaduras de Estruturas de Concreto Armado - Volume 2 (Vol. 2, 1 ed.). São Paulo, Brazil: França e Associados Projetos Estruturais.
2021 Nakajima, J., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2021). Manual de Boas Práticas - Montagem das Armaduras de Estruturas de Concreto Armado (Vol. 1, 1st ed.). Sao Paulo, Brazil: França e Associados Projetos Estruturais.

Year Citation
2022 Williamson, T., Soebarto, V., Bennetts, H., Arakawa Martins, L., Pisaniello, D., Hansen, A., . . . van Hoof, J. (2022). Assessing human resilience: A study of thermal comfort, wellbeing and health of older people. In F. Nicol, H. B. Rijal, & S. Roaf (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Resilient Thermal Comfort (1 ed., pp. 108-127). Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis.
DOI Scopus8

Year Citation
2024 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., & Williamson, T. (2024). MyComfort App: the application of personal thermal comfort models for older people in an online mobile tool. In Proceedings of the 56th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA 2023) : Architectural Science and User Experience: Sustainability and Health: the nexus of carbon neutral architecture and well-being Vol. 3 (pp. 536-549). University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia: The Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA).
DOI WoS4 Europe PMC3
2024 Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., Visvanathan, R., Pisaniello, D., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2024). Improving resilience of housing for low socio-economic older people: Let’s first look at the frailty level!. In Proceedings of the 56th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA 2023) : Sustainability and Health: the nexus of carbon neutral architecture and well-being (pp. 374-389). Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA).: The Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA).
Scopus1
2024 Soebarto, V., Le, H. T., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2024). Investigating strategies to be future-climate ready: A case of dwelling for low-income older people. In Proceedings of the 56th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA 2023) : Sustainability and Health: the nexus of carbon neutral architecture and well-being (pp. 434-447). University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia: The Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA).
Scopus1
2024 Jamialahmadi, S., Martins, L. A., Williamson, T., & Soebarto, V. (2024). A Novel Approach to Investigate the Impact of Building Features on Occupant Heating Behaviours: A Case Study of Dwellings of Low Socio-Economic Older People in South Australia. In Proceedings of the International Conference of Architectural Science Association (pp. 10-18).
2024 Martins, L. A., Williamson, T., Pisaniello, D., Visvanathan, R., & Soebarto, V. (2024). The thermal qualities of the living environments of older South Australians: An examination of two cohorts. In Proceedings of the 57th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA 2024): Harmony in Architectural Science and Design: Sustaining the Future (pp. 102-113). Gold Coast, Australia: Architectural Science Association.
2024 Malekpour, A., Martins, L. A., Williamson, T., Pisaniello, D., & Soebarto, V. (2024). An investigation of occupant window opening behaviour in residential aged care facilities during winter in Adelaide, Australia. In Proceedings of the International Conference of Architectural Science Association (pp. 28-36). Gold Coast, Brisbane Australia: Architectural Science Association.
2024 Akele, C., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2024). An exploration of future-climate resilience of an Eco-Pod in South Australia. In Comfort at the Extremes 2024: Investing in well-being in a challenging future. Sevilla, Spain.
2024 Arakawa Martins, L., & Soebarto, V. (2024). Improving resilience of existing dwellings of older people in South Australia. In Comfort at the Extremes 2024: Investing in well-being in a challenging future. Sevilla, Spain.
2023 Chen, E., Kroll, D., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2023). Can older houses be net zero? A case study of a 1930s house in Adelaide, Australia. In The 1st International Conference of Net Zero Carbon Built Environment. Nottingham, UK.
2023 Georgopoulos, P., Arakawa Martins, L., Williamson, T., & Soebarto, V. (2023). Ensuring health and well-being in the transition to a Zero Carbon Built Environment: examining conflicting goals. In The 1st International Conference of Net Zero Carbon Built Environment. Nottingham, UK.
2023 Sharifi, E., Mehdipour, A., Hill, K., Hayter, J., Soebarto, V., Arakawa Martins, L., . . . Hawken, S. (2023). A Multi-criteria Framework for Climate Change Resilient Street Trees. In P. Rajagopalan, V. Soebarto, & H. Akbari (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands : Holistic approaches to address urban heat islands (UHI, 2023) Vol. 1 (pp. 324-333). Melbourne, Australia: International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands.
2020 Arakawa Martins, L., Williamson, T., Bennetts, H., Zuo, J., Visvanathan, R., Hansen, A., . . . Soebarto, V. (2020). Individualising thermal comfort models for older people: the effects of personal characteristics on comfort and wellbeing. In S. Roaf, F. Nicol, & W. Finlayson (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th Windsor Conference on Thermal Comfort: Resilient Comfort (pp. 187-199). online: Windsor.
Scopus7
2020 Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., Bennetts, H., Arakawa Martins, L., Pisaniello, D., Hansen, A., . . . Carre, A. (2020). Development of an integrated data acquisition system for thermal comfort studies of older people. In S. Roaf, F. Nicol, & W. Finlayson (Eds.), Proceeding of the 11th Windsor Conference: Resilient comfort. (pp. 155-170). online: Windsor.
Scopus10
2020 Williamson, T., Soebarto, V., Bennetts, H., Arakawa Martins, L., & Pisaniello, D. (2020). Thermal comfort, well-being and health of older residents in South Australia. In S. Roaf, F. Nicol, & W. Finlayson (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th Windsor Conference: Resilient comfort (pp. 171-186). online: Windsor, UK.
Scopus5
2020 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., & Pisaniello, D. (2020). A deep learning approach to personal thermal comfort models for an ageing population. In A. Ghaffarianhoseini (Ed.), Proceedings of the 54th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA) 2020. Imaginable Futures: Design Thinking, and the Scientific Method Vol. 2020-November (pp. 71-80). online: Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA).
Scopus3
2019 Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., Carre, A., & Arakawa Martins, L. (2019). Understanding indoor environmental conditions and occupant's responses in houses of older people. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 609 (pp. 1-7). online: IOP.
DOI Scopus15
2019 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., & Williamson, T. (2019). Towards an understanding of comfort and wellbeing of older people using occupant centric models. In XV Encontro Nacional de Conforto no Ambiente Construído (ENCAC) (pp. 3175-3180). Porto Alegre, Brazil: ANTAC.
2019 Arakawa Martins, L., Soebarto, V., Williamson, T., & Pisaniello, D. (2019). Developing occupant centric models to better understand the thermal comfort and wellbeing of older Australians. In Proceedings of the 53rd International Conference of the Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA): Revisiting the Role of Architecture for 'Surviving’ Development Vol. 2019-November (pp. 595-604). online: Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA).
Scopus2

Year Citation
2022 Arakawa Martins, L. (2022). Understanding thermal comfort and wellbeing of older South Australians using occupant-centric models. (PhD Thesis, The University of Adelaide).
2015 Arakawa Martins, L. (2015). The importance of sidewalk design in the urban requalification of Bom Retiro. (Undergraduate Dissertation, University of Sao Paulo).
2012 Arakawa Martins, L. (2012). Performance evaluation of the green-infrastructure typologies of Dolores Ibarruri Square, in Sao Paulo, SP. (Undergraduate Dissertation, University of Sao Paulo).

Year Citation
2023 Sharifi, E., Mehdipour, A., Hill, K., Hayter, J., Soebarto, V., Bartesaghi Koc, C., . . . Arakawa Martins, L. (2023). Trees for Urban Streets: A multi-criteria guide to select street trees in Greater Metropolitan Adelaide.
DOI

Year Citation
2021 Fortes, G. L., Arakawa Martins, L., & Nakajima, J. (2021). Boas Práticas de Projeto - Posição Ideal. Revista Estrutura, ed. 10, ano 5, pp 34-39.
2021 Soebarto, V., Bennetts, H., Arakawa Martins, L., van Hoof., Visvanathan, R., Hansen, A., . . . Zuo, J. (2021). Thermal Comfort at Home: A guide for older South Australians. The University of Adelaide.
DOI
2020 Nakajima, J., Arakawa Martins, L., & Fortes, G. L. (2020). Montagem correta de armação em laje plana. Revista Estrutura, ed. 9, ano 4, pp. 56-61.
  • 2025 McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowship, The University of Melbourne, Australia (AUD 487,831)
  • 2025 ACE Research Equipment Grant for High Speed Camera, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 19,000)
  • 2024 Graduate Women SA Trust Postdoctoral Grant, Australia (AUD 5,000)
  • 2024 ACE Research Growth Scheme Grant, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 3,000)
  • 2023-2025 Sustainability FAME Strategy Internal Grant 2023 - Initiate Scheme, with Adj/Professor D. Pisaniello, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 19,905)
  • 2022-2024  Healthy Societies FAME Strategy Internal Grant 2022 - Initiate Scheme, with A/Professor S. Gaskin, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 19,685)
  • 2022-2023  University of Adelaide Research Small Equipment Support Scheme, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 10,076)
  • 2020-2021  AHURI Postgraduate Scholarship Top-up, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Australia (AUD 7,000/year)
  • 2019  School of Architecture and Built Environment HDR Support, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 1,500)
  • 2018-2022  Faculty of the Professions Divisional Scholarship, The University of Adelaide, Australia (AUD 28,000/year)
  • 2018  Jovenes Lideres Iberoamericanos Scholarship, Fundacion Carolina and Banco Santander, Spain (EUR 3,000)
  • 2014  SEAS/POLI-USP Collaborative Field Course Scholarship, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, USA (USD 3,000)
  • 2012-2013  International Exchange Program Scholarship - Graduacao Sanduiche - Ciencias sem Fronteiras, Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq, Belgium (EUR 10,600)
  • 2010-2012  Undergraduate Research Scholarship - Iniciacao Cientifica, Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq, Brazil (BRL 9,000)
  • 2022-present  Course Coordinator and Lecturer in DESST 2517 - Environment II - School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Australia
  • 2019-present  Tutor in DESST 2517 - Environment II - School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Australia
  • 2020-present  Tutor in ARCH 7041 - Advanced Architecture Technologies - School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Australia
  • 2014  Tutor in PHD2412 - Urban Sanitation II (Saneamento II) - Polytechnic School, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • 2010  Tutor in PRO2315 - Ergonomics I (Ergonomia I) - Polytechnic School, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Principal Supervisor Thermal performance of nineteenth-century buildings in South Australia: can we learn from them to achieve sustainable building design? Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Echo Chen
2024 Co-Supervisor Exploring the Impact of Artificial Light for Plant Growth on Human Mood, Emotion and Task Performance Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Tika Ardina Hanjani
2023 Co-Supervisor Enhancing Natural Ventilation to Improve Indoor Air Quality: An Investigation of Occupants’ Window Opening Behaviour in Aged Care Facilities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ali Malekpour
2022 Co-Supervisor Finding the Most Suitable Machine Learning Method to Anticipate Actual Occupancy Adaptive Behaviours in Older People with Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds Concerning Wellbeing and Comfort Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Shadi Jamialahmadi

Date Role Board name Institution name Country
2019 - 2021 Representative School of Architecture and Built Environment - Student Representative - Higher Degree by Research The University of Adelaide Australia
2014 - 2015 Representative Polytechnic School (EPUSP) - Student Representative - Double Qualification Program in Civil Engineering University of Sao Paulo Brazil

Date Role Committee Institution Country
2024 - ongoing Representative School of ACE Research Committee The University of Adelaide Australia

Date Role Membership Country
2022 - ongoing Member Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide Australia

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