Practice Research in Art, Architecture and Design

Jointly hosted by CUBE and CREATURE, this event will discuss creative practice-based research at AAD.

Building upon the AAD Practice Research Portfolios series published by the School of Art, Architecture and Design in the run-up to the REF2021 submission (available online via a dedicated issuu.com virtual bookstack), this live event will explore a range of practice research activities from across the school. The aim is to discuss how this body of work is situated within the broader landscape of research in the arts, architecture and design—and to identify opportunities for the advancement of creative practice-based research in our institution and beyond.

All research-active staff at AAD are advised to attend this event, and practitioner researchers are particularly strongly encouraged. AsL staff who are pursuing research in their practice, or who are interested in doing so, are also warmly invited to attend.

Our aspiration for the AAD Practice Research Portfolios collection, as it grows, is that it should represent our research community as broadly as possible. We hope that this event will contribute to exploring the diverse range of approaches underpinning the activities of our research centres, CUBE and CREATURE.

The event will take place during the school’s Postgraduate and Research Exhibition 2022. Printed copies of the AAD Practice Research Portfolios will be available for peruse at the exhibition.

Discussants

Prof. Yeoria Manolopoulou is an architect and design researcher working from two parallel positions: as Professor of Architecture and Experimental Practice at The Bartlett School of Architecture, and as founder and co-director of AY Architects. She has produced internationally recognised designs, buildings and texts, and in 2014 she was nominated for the Emerging Woman Architect Award. She is interested in architecture’s relation to experience, aleatoricism and environment and she has played a leading role in the definition and promotion of design research in architecture. This is demonstrated in her own methods, as well as in the pioneering series Bartlett Design Research Folios that she has founded.

Prof. Paul A. Rodgers is Professor of Design at the University of Strathclyde, Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management (DMEM). He previously held positions at Lancaster University, Northumbria University, Edinburgh Napier University and University of Cambridge. He has over 25 years of experience in product design research and has led several research projects for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). His current research explores the discipline of design and how disruptive design interventions can enact positive change in health and social care, and elsewhere. From 2017 to 2021, he held the post of the AHRC Priority Area Leadership Fellowship in Design, where he initiated a number of projects under the Design Research for Change programme.

Chairs

Prof. Matthew Barac is a Professor of Architecture and Urban Culture and leads the PhD programme at the School of Art, Architecture and Design. He coordinated the School’s submission to REF2021 and together with Dr Jane Clossick, was the Series Editor of the AAD Practice Research Portfolios.

Dr Beatrice De Carli is a Reader in Urbanism and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Urban and Built Ecologies at the School of Art, Architecture and Design. She was the Editorial Coordinator of the AAD Practice Research Portfolios.

Organisers

The event is organised by Prof. Matthew Barac and Dr Beatrice De Carli together with Prof. Nicholas Temple (AAD Research Leader and CUBE Director), Prof. Wessie Ling (CREATURE Director) and Dr Jacek Scarso (Deputy Director).