My research brings “more-than-human” perspectives into dialogue with architectural history, theory, and pedagogy. Drawing on philosophy, education theory, anthropology, theology, and literary studies, among others, I explore how other disciplines have challenged the anthropocentrism of cultural traditions and how these and how such insights might inform architectural thinking.
I also have a background in digital heritage between Canada and Portugal. This has led to the co-founding of IPTI (Investigation in Patrimony: Tangible and Intangible), a research endeavour developing digital documentation, reconstruction and storytelling approaches for architectural heritage. One of the present focuses of this endeavour is in communicating the ecological principles of a Capuchin “form-of-life” across a network conventual spaces in Portugal.
2022 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Tokyo College
2021-2022 Researcher, Instituto Superior Técnico Lisboa
2021 PhD in Architecture, Carleton University
2016 Master of Architecture, McGill University
2013 Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Carleton University
Journal Articles
Nara Silva Souza, Valeria Di Francesco, Nikedila De Wanda, Jesse Rafeiro, and Ana Tomé. “Digital documentation and dissemination of the Via Crucis of the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Arrábida, Portugal.” Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (2025): e00421.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.daach.2025.e00421
Rafeiro, Jesse. “The Marionette Theatre: Decentering the All Too Human Architect.” Educational Philosophy and Theory (2024): 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2024.2442751
Rafeiro, Jesse, Ana Tomé, and Maria Nazário. “Immersive Learning for Lost Architectural Heritage: Interweaving the Past and Present, Physical and Digital in the Monastery of Madre de Deus.” Sustainability 16 (2024): 1-26.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031156
Rafeiro, Jesse, and Ana Tomé. “Finding the Lost 16th-Century Monastery of Madre de Deus: A Pedagogical Approach to Virtual Reconstruction Research.” Heritage 6 (2023): 6213-6239.
https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6090326
Book Chapters
Forthcoming 2025 – Miquel Reina Ortiz, Jesse Rafeiro, and Ana Tomé. “A Guide to Wilding Instruments: Turning the Past into Speculative Futures in Alferrara.” In Speculative Futures in Cultural Heritage Informatics, edited by Katherine Davidson, Kavita Mistry, and Scott Coleman. University of North Dakota Digital Press.
Forthcoming 2025 – Lorenzo Russo, Jesse Rafeiro, and Ana Tomé. “IgrejAR: an immersion in the lost 16th-century church of Madre de Deus.” In Digital Innovations in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, edited by Andrea Giordano, Michele Russo and Roberta Spallone. Springer.
Rafeiro, Jesse. “Trapping, Dismembering and Crucifying Angels: Tracing the Sacred in Hejduk’s Bovisa.” In Transgression in the Architectures of After-Modernity: A Paradigm at Work in Times of Crises, edited by Carmen Popescu. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2025.
https://lup.be/book/transgression-in-the-architectures-of-after-modernity/
Rafeiro, Jesse, and Ana Tomé. “Digitalização da Ruína: Rumo a uma Reconstrução Virtual dos Capuchos de Alferrara.” In Cadernos de Alferrara Nº1, edited by Associação de Municípios da Região de Setúbal, 2023.
https://quinta.amrs.pt/conventos-de-alferrara/publicacoes
Sgarbi, Claudio, and Jesse Rafeiro. “The Fabbriceria and the Mise En A-BIM.” In The Routledge Companion to Architectural Drawings and Models, edited by Federica Goffi, 100–113. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003052623
Conference Proceedings
Rafeiro, Jesse, Ana Tomé, and João Luís Inglês Fontes. “Giving Depth to the Traces of Nossa Senhora da Piedade da Caparica.” Protection of Historical Constructions. PROHITECH 2021. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 209. Springer International Publishing (2021): 1268–1284.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90788-4_98
Rafeiro, Jesse, Ana Tomé, and João Luís Inglês Fontes. “From Text to Model: Translating the Estatutos da Província de Santa Maria da Arrábida.” IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 949 (2020): 1-8.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/949/1/012070
Chow, Lara, Katie Graham, Tyler Grunt, Martine Gallant, Jesse Rafeiro, and Stephen Fai. “The Evolution of Modelling Practices on Canada’s Parliament Hill: An Analysis of Three Significant Heritage Building Information Models (HBIM).” The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-2/W11 (2019): 419-426.
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W11-419-2019
Fai, Stephen, and Rafeiro, Jesse. “Establishing an Appropriate Level of Detail (LOD) for a Building Information Model (BIM) – West Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada.” The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences II-5 (2014): 123-130.
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsannals-II-5-123-2014
Rafeiro, Jesse. “De-Anthropocentrizing Architecture: Rewriting Filarete’s Golden Book.” The Ethical Imperative, 106th Annual Meeting, Project Proceedings, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (2018): 163–164.
Funded Projects
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Reviving Monastic Hydraulic Systems for Heritage and Climate Resilience in Alferrara, Portugal. Principal Investigator, 2025-2026.
https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-25K17761/
