Architecture PhD

‍‍MPhil/PhD

Working at the intersection of theory, research, media and critical-spatial-practices, the MPhil/ PhD programme in Architecture supports experimental practice-led and interdisciplinary theses aiming at tangible public and social impact. The programme fosters architectural research at the intersection of history and theory, critical ecologies, new materialism, and digital culture. The programme is investigating the diverse ways in which architects, artists, filmmakers, curators and other cultural producers have negotiated crises associated with globalization, migration and statelessness, the hauntings of empire and the colonial present, new digital technologies, and the growing biopolitical conflicts around ecology and climate change. We strongly encourage to think about the performativity of space, or architectural forms and practices in their interrelation to the climate crisis, social movements and institutional change.

We support written academic research in the history and theory of architecture and new media of exploration and documentation. We are especially interested in practice-led research, which could involve an architectural project, a work of heritage preservation, community work, an artistic practice, an exhibition, or a film production. Our programme is relevant to diverse research careers in academia, spatial practice, curation, publishing and critical conservation. We encourage establishing real world collaborations with industry-based research groups, leading design practices, policymakers, social and environmental justice groups, human rights organisations and cultural institutions. We particularly welcome research proposals aligned with the strategic areas of research in the School of Architecture:

‍Climate Justice

‍Architecture & Social Movements

‍ Institutional Forms & Practices

‍Documentary Research, Heritage & Digital Materialities

‍Interior Architecture & The Culture of Care

‍Feeling, Fiction, Frame

Laboratory for Design and Machine Learning

‍All research themes encourage interdisciplinary research with new models of collaboration between postgraduate research students, as well as academic and non-academic institutions or partners.

Research Methods

The programme emphasises the development of innovative methods of research through design and spatial analysis and their documentation in new computational and media forms.

Career Opportunities

PhD study leads to a range of opportunities. You might become a lecturer or academic researcher, designer or consultant in industry, curator in leading cultural institutions worldwide, in international institutions such as NGOs and charities. It is an opportunity for you to investigate a research question or issue in depth, enabling you to take a more reflective, more innovative role in design.