Call for Design Unit Leaders

We are inviting expressions of interest in running a design unit in the third year of our BSc (RIBA Part I), the second year of our MArch (RIBA Part II) and our new MA AD (Masters in Architectural Design).

The units will run from October 2017 to April or June 2018 (April for the MA AD, June for the BSc and MArch) allowing time and space for students to develop and test intellectual ideas through design. With the exception of the MA AD, the resulting outcomes must meet the criteria set by the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Architects Registration Board for Parts 1 and 2 respectively. Each unit at BSc typically has 10-12 students and a single unit tutor while at masters level, the unit size is typically 9-10 students. Nevertheless, we may consider larger units where unit leaders are keen to collaborate.

At BSc Level, students are required to respond to a brief which will typically prescribe a geographical location as well as a clear theme. In framing the theme, we ask you to respond to the overarching agenda of “Just Architecture?”. We are inviting potential applicants to interpret this agenda creatively, considering the interrelationship between architecture and the social contexts within which it sits, or recognising the social consequences of architecture. This is the second year in which we address this topic. We will be looking to include a variety of interpretations.

At MArch level, students are required to develop a design thesis that responds to a clearly defined issue or theme, which is developed by the student in collaboration with their unit leader. The design thesis is a vehicle through which students will acquire important skills in research and its translation into architectural programme, form and technical resolution. We are looking for unit leaders able to define broad themes and modes of investigation.

In the MA AD, students are also required to develop a design thesis with the same aspiration as in the MArch. However, at the end of the academic year, MA AD students take work a stage further by developing a critical and reflective commentary based on their research. This final stage of work may be supervised by someone other than the unit leader.

Proposals are invited from practitioners who have an established record of design at a high level, evidenced, for example, by completed projects in practice, past design studios, publications and/ or awards. Candidates need to be able to teach design from a well-defined agenda that relates to contemporary architectural design.

Application:

You may wish to indicate in your proposal which programme you would wish to teach. However, this is not absolutely necessary; you may submit a more general proposal based on a theme that could be relevant for any of the above years. If we are interested in your proposal, we will invite you to submit a further, more detailed brief. At this second stage, we would also discuss with you where your unit may be best placed.

At this stage, we are inviting you to submit a one-page expression of interest. This should outline the theme/ issues that you propose to address in your unit and how you propose to address these through your brief and teaching. Some indication of proposed site, skills that will be exercised (such as physical modelling or computational methods), attitudes towards representations, and processes (e.g. learning from places, learning by doing), would be helpful.

You are also asked to submit a CV showing examples of design work.

The expressions of interest will be used to generate a short-list of those who will be invited to submit more detailed briefs.

Please submit your proposal and CV to Rose Terpstra by the 20th June 2017 – TerpstraR@cardiff.ac.uk

We will be in contact within a week and let you know the outcome at that stage. If we want to take your proposal forward, we will ask you to develop it further, with a second stage submission on 4th July, with the intention of coming to a final agreement by mid-July.

During this second stage, we will ask you to consider details of running the unit including general timetabling, resource implications (including materials costs), risk assessment (we can advise on this) site and study visits.

If you have any enquiries, please feel free to be in contact with the following:
BSc third year – Shibu Raman – RamanS@cardiff.ac.uk
MArch – Steve Coombs – CoombsS@cardiff.ac.uk
MA AD – Federico Wulff Barreiro- WulffF@cardiff.ac.uk

We thank you for your time in considering this call and the possibility of teaching with us at the Welsh School of Architecture.