The Arch. Ed. Podcast: Recent Episodes
James Benedict Brown
The Arch. Ed. Podcast is the space for informed, honest and critical discussion about architectural education today.
For almost ten years, second-year Architecture students at the University of Nottingham have been building small educational buildings in South Africa. This year, the Department of Architecture and Built Environment invited me to participate in the 2017/18 edition of the project, building a small crèche in the village of Mothopong, near Tzaneen in Limpopo Province for the Thušanang Trust. The Trust is a non-profit founded in 1986 to train teachers and establish community-based Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres.
This is the third in a series of podcasts to be recorded while I was participating in the project as a guest academic staff member. In this episode, recorded during week two of the second phase of the four-week build, I speak again to staff, students and stakeholders in the project as it nears handover to crèche teacher Joyce (pictured, above right). The project ends with a joyful celebration organised by Joyce and fellow community members, at which the students' #ProjectIthuta became the new Mothopong Crèche.
The call for papers for the forthcoming session on transnational live projects mentioned at the end of the episode can be found at colonialandpostcoloniallandscapes.com/sessions (deadline 30 June, 2018).
For almost ten years, second-year Architecture students at the University of Nottingham have been building small educational buildings in South Africa. This is the second in a series of podcasts to be recorded while I was participating in the project as a guest academic staff member. In this episode, recorded in South Africa during week three of the four-week build (and week one of phase two) I speak once again to structural engineers Lois Plaistow and Steve Wickham of Price & Myers; project manager Pete Russell, Thušanang Trust Director Terry Morgan and University of Nottingham Faculty of Engineering Project Officer Tony Gospel.
This is the first in a series of podcasts to be recorded during the University of Nottingham's 2017/18 live project in South Africa. This year's crêche was designed by a group of three second-year students in the second year of Nottingham's ARB/RIBA Part 1 Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) programme. It will be built by approximately thirty students in two consecutive two-week phases over the four weeks of the 2018 Easter vacation. I'm in South Africa for phase two.
The 2017 AAE conference (see episode 26) presented the opportunity to sit down with Bryan Bell, Founder and Executive Director of Design Corps and Associate Professor of Architecture at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. We spoke about his experiences of architectural education and practice, from studying under Peggy Guggenheim to meeting and working with Sam Mockbee. After grad school, he worked for a brief period in the office of Steven Holl before realising his calling lay elsewhere.
In the second of two episodes from the Czech Republic, this podcast features an interview with Regina Loukotová, Rector of ARCHIP (the Architecture Institute in Prague). Founded in 2010 and enrolling its first students in 2011, ARCHIP is a private school of architecture in Prague, offering undergraduate and graduate programmes in English. Founded by Loukotová and her late husband Martin Roubík (1949–2008), ARCHIP was established to change the way in which architecture was taught and discussed in the Czech Republic.
Dr Henri Achten is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at Czech Technical University (České vysoké učení technické v Praze, CVUT), Prague, and Director of MoLab, the Faculty's Experimental Design Studio, researching parametric & performative design thinking, contemporary design theory, and rapid prototyping in the design process, as well as offering design studio units with a focus in these areas to students.
The podcast's return continues with a look back at the fourth international conference of the Association of Architectural Educators (AAE) Architecture Connects, held at Oxford Brookes University from 6-9 September 2017. The podcast begins with a conversation with the chair of the conference committee Jane Anderson, and continues with students and academic delegates from around the world.
After a break of almost a year, the podcast returns with a conversation recorded last autumn with Richard Hall, a few days before I left DMU. Recorded during the British political party conference season, we discuss Richard's work in education, his politics, and his beloved Walsall F.C.
For the third year running, the Arch. Ed. Podcast is in the USA for the annual National Conference on the Beginning Design Student. This episode includes conversations with delegates on the second day of the conference.
For the third year running, the Arch. Ed. Podcast is in the USA for the annual National Conference on the Beginning Design Student. This episode includes conversations with co-chairs and delegates on the first full day of the conference.
A brief update on the podcast, news of forthcoming episodes, and a note of thanks for your patience.
Recorded in June, an interview with Prof. Michael Jemtrud of McGill University, Montréal about his involvement in the Little Burgundy Narratives and Le Salon 1861 projects.
Five days before the UK's referendum on the country's continuing membership of the European Union, the Architecture Students Network convened a one day conference at the University of Sheffield School of Architecture (SSoA) Collaborating Across Borders.
In episode 20, the first of three episodes recorded in Montréal, Québec, I speak to Professor Carole Levesque at the School of Design, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). We first heard from Carole in episode 12 of the podcast, when I met her at the 2016 AIARG Conference in Cork, Ireland. In this episode, we take more time to discuss her teaching, research, live projects and emerging project to map and represent the terrains vagues (leftover spaces) of the island of Montréal.
Episode 19 features conversations with Professors Lorraine Farrelly and Flora Samuel on the new BSc Architecture course at the University of Reading, which opens in autumn 2016. We discuss the establishment of a research culture and teaching environment.
Episode 18 is the second of two special "live" conference podcasts from the 3rd international conference of the Association of Architectural Educators (AAE) hosted by the Bartlett School of Architecture, Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London.
Episode 17 is the first of two special "live" conference podcasts from the 3rd international conference of the Association of Architectural Educators (AAE) hosted by the Bartlett School of Architecture, Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London, In this episode, I talk to some of the delegates during the first full day of this year's conference at school's temporary home at 132 and 140 Hampstead Road.
Episode 16 of the Arch. Ed. Podcast talks to Dr. Harriet Harriss and Daisy Froud, co-editors of Radical Pedagogies: Architectural Education and the British Tradition, published in May 2015 by RIBA Publishing. Featuring chapters by Mel Dodd, Sam Jacob, Alan Powers, Jack Self, Tatjana Schneider and others, Radical Pedagogies presents a debate about the future of architectural education, placing it within its unique historic tradition and raising questions as to where architecture schools should be situated, who should be teaching it and what should be included. For a limited time only, RIBA Bookshops are offering Arch. Ed. Podcast listeners an exclusive offer: 20% off Radical Pedagogies. To claim your discount, order Radical Pedagogies from RIBA Bookshops and apply your discount code RADPEDS2016 at the checkout. The voucher expires on 1 May 2016. It can be used once for a single transaction and excludes postage and packing. Full terms & conditions are available at ribabookshops.com.
From 1 August 2016, students will be allowed to carry concealed firearms on public college and university campuses in Texas. So how do educators at Texan schools of architecture feel about teaching students who may be armed?
Episode 14 is the second of two special "live" conference podcasts from the 32nd National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS) hosted by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In this episode, the conference moves to the Cal Poly campus in beautiful (and I mean beautiful) SLO.
The first of two special episodes from day one of the 32nd National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS) at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California, USA.
Moments from the fifth annual conference of the All Ireland Architecture Research Group (AIARG) at the Cork Centre for Architectural Education, Ireland. Featuring Professor Lesley Lokko (University of Johannesburg), Elie Harfouche (Lebanese American University), Carole Levesque (Université du Québec à Montréal), Rosina Shatarova (University of Architecture Sofia), John McLoughlin and Orla McKeever (Cork Centre for Architectural Education).
Thanks to Ashgate, for a limited time only listeners of the Arch. Ed. Podcast listeners can save 50% on the RRP 'Spatial Design Education'. Simply enter go to ashgate.com and enter the discount code 50BLL14N at checkout.
What would a school of architecture look like if there was no assessment, no qualifications, and no professional validation? The Public School for Architecture Brussels (PSA-Bxl) is an experiment in open source education. It's a self-organising educational programme where the curriculum and schedule are proposed by the general public. A few weeks ago I took up the open invitation of the PSA-Bxl to propose a short workshop about knowledge and critical reflexivity. While in Brussels, I made sure I had the chance to sit down with Thomas Guilleux, Jorg De Vries and Lars Fisher, three of the PSA-Bxl's current committee members to learn more about the institution.
This week sees the launch of a new format for periodic episodes of the podcast: the Arch. Ed. Podcast interview. These occasional episodes are an opportunity to talk in more depth with an individual architectural teacher about their education, practice and research, and how they came to be a teacher. In this first one-to-one interview, I talk to Eamonn Canniffe, Principal Lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture, and Course Leader of the MA Architecture + Urbanism.
Episode 8 of the Arch. Ed. Podcast comes from London with comment from this week's RIBA Education Forum. This exceptional open event included a vote by RIBA Council Members on five recommendations from the Institute's Review of Architectural Education.
On Saturday 21 February 2015, more than fifty students from more than twenty UK schools of architecture converged on the Manchester School of Architecture for the ASN Futures Conference, convened to discuss (amongst other things) the new RIBA Education review and the future of architectural education in UK. Episode 7 of the Arch. Ed. Podcast reports from Manchester with a selection of student perspectives on architectural education today.
Episode 6 is the second of two special "live" conference podcasts from the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston in Texas and the 31st National Conference on the Beginning Design Student. In this episode, James talks to some of the delegates and participants during the first full day of this year's conference.
Episode 5 is the first of two special "live" conference podcasts from the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston in Texas and the 31st National Conference on the Beginning Design Student. In this episode, James talks to some of the delegates and participants in this year's conference.
Following the publication of the RIBA's 2014 Skills Survey Report (pdf here) episode four of the Arch. Ed. Podcast turns its attention to age old questions. Do practitioners believe that universities are failing to preparing students for practice? Do educators believe that practices are failing to provide sufficient on the job training for Part III students? And do bears defecate in woods?
In episode 3 of the Arch. Ed. Podcast, we revisit the November 2014 Architecture Foundation debate on the future of architectural education, with guests Peter Clegg, Senior Partner at FCBS (and Professor of Architecture at the University of Bath); Gem Barton, editor of Edge Condition and Senior Lecturer at the University of Brighton; and Neil Spiller, Dean of Architecture at the University of Greenwich. In anticipation of the long awaited RIBA Review of Architectural Education, some familiar questions were posed. Why is architectural education so long? Why does it have such a standardised structure and duration? Is our studio culture supportive or exclusive? Can design crits ever relinquish their combative and abusive reputations? And does the perennial unit system of organising the design studio into a free market of student choice continue to serve students?
In episode 2 of the Arch. Ed. Podcast, we take a look back at the REF. With 3,781 outputs and 146 case studies from 1,025 academics at 45 higher education institutions, the 2014 Research Excellence Framework certainly kept the Architecture, Built Environment and Planning sub-panel of peer reviewers busy. We explore how things have changed since the 2008 RAE. How have academic institutions articulated the wider societal impact of their research? How is research-by-design changing the landscape of architecture research? And can we expect to receive a larger or smaller slice of the pie when HEFCE makes its funding decisions in the spring? Were institutional strategies for including some outputs and excluding others successful in improving overall research scores? With guests Prof. Jeremy Till (Head of Central Saint Martins; Pro Vice-Chancellor of University of the Arts London), Elena Marco (Associate Head of Architecture, University of the West of England) and Professor David Coley is Professor of Low Carbon Design and Head of the Energy and the Design of Environments research centre at the University of Bath. . Available here on and iTunes from late evening GMT, Monday 19 January. Get new episodes of the Arch. Ed. Podcast automatically downloaded to your device - click here to subscribe on iTunes or add the RSS feed www.archedpodcast.com/thearchedpodcast?format=rss to your preferred podcast app.
A new year, and a new podcast. James Benedict Brown introduces the Arch. Ed. Podcast and its rationale.