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Wandering
University of Calgary, Canada
Arrival; confronting weeks-long temperatures of -20°C from an apartment window; working on the Post Hotel and Spa in Lake Louise.
University of Malta
Being part of energy being pumped into another London school of architecture.
As a visiting professor, I became fascinated by the nine forts that historically protected Malta’s two most important harbours, with Valletta commanding the peninsula between them. Fort Ricasoli, Fort Rinella, Fort St Rocco and Fort St Angelo had protected the entrance to the Grand Harbour – a purpose long gone. Projects looked at how the evolution of these places could help establishing a robust Greater Valletta city region.
Berlin University of Applied Sciences and Technology
Involved as a visiting professor for final year students, assignments placed emphasis on the reuse of previously developed land, and previously used water areas. Discussions about what constituted a contemporary language / contemporary languages of architecture softened up overtly rationalist positions.
Beykent University, Istanbul
Being part of energy being pumped into another London school of architecture.
Invited to write the curriculum for a nascent school of architecture, the proven LJMU version was adapted; an academic partnership established. What became primary challenges when working with students was the absence of studio culture (remedied) and the lack of awareness of the remarkable architectural richness of their homeland (parental and school deprivation). With young lecturers and teachers invited into the fold, a commensurate reigning in of over-academic scholars put in place, the rich heritage – from Ephesus and Miletus, by way of the best works from among the 200 designed by Mimar Sinan, to the Atatürk Mausoleum by Emin Onat / Ahmet Ard and the works of the émigré Max Taut – became a reservoir alongside the dehydrated propensity (again parent driven) to only see architecture as a slave of commerce. Students got that distinction.