In memory of Professor Dean Hawkes, 1938-2026

The Welsh School of Architecture is saddened to mark the passing of Professor Dean Hawkes, a respected former colleague and friend of the School whose presence will be missed by all who had the pleasure of working with him.

Following a distinguished career at Cambridge University, Dean joined the Welsh School of Architecture as professor of Architectural Design in 1995 in the wake of a string of award-winning buildings executed in partnership with Stephen Greenberg, inspired by the English Arts and Crafts movement and a deep understanding of the principles of passive, low energy architecture.

Dean was one of a shrinking number of leaders of UK architectural education who were able to combine research, practice and teaching. Cardiff University was lucky to get him. He quickly planted himself in his new surroundings, settling into an apartment in the middle of the city overlooking the Cardiff rugby ground.

He recognised the strengths of the School, particularly its research in low energy sustainable architecture which he was able to support, augment and build upon. His influence was perhaps felt most in design teaching where he moved design outcomes particularly at part 2 to ones that privileged subject over object, arguing that architectural innovation must synthesise technological means with historical, poetic, and cultural factors.

Dean was a great advocate for the strength of a vibrant studio culture and was consistently unstinting in his own tutorial provision consisting of erudite and critical commentary supplemented with sketches, diagrams and references made on A4 sheets using his Pentel art pen.

He was able to create and enjoyed the detail of design and making and demonstrating that in design tuition one had to get “into the clinches”. Leaning on his considerable network of practitioners and teachers, the School was able to benefit from the contribution of a stream of high-level visiting tutors, critics and speakers.

Drawing from essays written across his career, Dean established design as the proper mode of inquiry in architecture, distinguishing it from the kinds of research conducted in the sciences and humanities and placed the studio  alongside the library and the laboratory. This resulted in forming the Design Research Unit to take on the design and construction of live projects through a form of critical practice linking the architectural science group with the historians and social scientists.

Perhaps most importantly, Dean was a terrific colleague, collaborative and kind and supportive of young staff. Following his retirement in 2002 he was a regular visitor to the School giving lectures up until very recently. His legacy endures through the continuing contribution to teaching of a number of his design research graduates.

Professor Wayne Forster, October 2026