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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the LSBU Architecture 2022 Catalogue!
While I’m a newcomer to the LSBU Architecture team, it is clear to me that I am joining a group of talented and committed academic staff, professional support colleagues and students. After a challenging few pandemic years, universities are now returning, in part, to a shape we recognise pre-pandemic – back on campus, in the studio and lecture halls – although online hybrid teaching has been added to our portfolio of how we teach and communicate architectural education.
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As the new Head of Division for Architecture I see my role as one of helping support my team and students not only to reacquaint themselves with life pre-pandemic but also to increase, in every way possible, the quality of what we deliver in higher education. Our already strong Part 1 and Part 2 studio portfolios will continue to educate students to be creative, ethical and sustainable designers of the built environment, meeting the new expectations of our accrediting bodies, the ARB (Architects Registration Board) and RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in the coming years. The ways in which technology, communications, history and theory, and studies in professional practice inform and enhance design, and their individual speculations, is an area we want to build upon in design research in architecture. Our success in the REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2022, in which we submitted our research for the first time, is something we want to grow quickly. This will happen not only through the established excellence in research by the DARLAB (Digital Architecture and Robotics Lab) but will also include expanding the work of RAID (Research into Architectural Innovation and Design) and include new research groups that we will form over the coming years who can welcome more PGR (Post Graduate Research) students undertaking PhDs with us.
Our End of Year Show held at the Bargehouse warehouse from the 23-27th June, 2022 celebrates the excellence of our students and staff. I want to thank each and everyone one of our students who has fallen in love with their project and developed expertise as future architects. I also want to thank our industry partners and Apprenticeship team in the university who have supported the learning of our apprenticeship students, to Course Directors, Bandele Olubodun (MArch-Part 2), Angela Vanezi (BA (Hons)- Part 1), Monika Jociute (Level 7 Architect Apprenticeships- Part 2), Kazeem Awotunde (Level 6 Architect Apprenticeships- Part 1), our professional examiners, guest speakers and reviewers, External Examiners and the Built Environment and Architecture (BEA) faculty leadership team including outgoing Dean, Professor George Ofori, Professor Mahmood Datoo (Teaching and Learning), Professor Issa Chaer (Research), John (Obas) Ebohon (International), the professional services including HR, librarians etc. and Technical support teams led by Tony Roberts.
2021-2022 has been a year in which we’ve regained our balance after challenging times. 2022-2023 will be one where we improve our offer and expertise of architectural higher education to our students. Our priority in the Division of Architecture at LSBU is produce architectural graduates whose designerly, ethical, environmental and social sensitivity improves our built environment, locally, nationally and globally for people of all backgrounds, class, age, race/ethnicity, gender and socio-economic level. Thank you to all the students whose work we present here for what you have already done so far. Graduating architects, I wish you the very best in your careers. May you have long and fulfilling work lives in architecture and produce buildings and landscapes that improve life for everyone.
