RIBA Stirling Prize winners and contributors, a bestselling design writer and broadcaster and a group of internationally recognised scholars have joined Manchester School of Architecture as Visiting Professors.
The six new recruits bring decades of experience at the peak of architectural education and practice, enhancing the school’s worldwide reputation, expertise and industry links.
The visiting professors will deliver tutorials, reviews, and masterclasses, and develop the school’s ambition to be at the forefront of tackling contemporary societal issues such as diversity and equality, climate change, and the changing nature of the profession and practice.
Manchester School of Architecture, a collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester, is currently ranked 11th in the QS world rankings of architecture schools and is widely recognised as one of the top schools in the UK.
Professor Kevin Singh, Head of Manchester School of Architecture, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be able to appoint and welcome our new visiting professors who reinforce our characteristics of excellence, ambition, boldness, inquisitiveness, innovation, and social responsibility. We began our worldwide search almost a year ago and so it’s very exciting to have appointed such an impressive group of visiting professors who bring incredible experience and expertise to our School for the benefit of our students and to support our talented staff team.”
Visiting Professors
Kofi Boone, Professor of Landscape Architecture at North Carolina C State University, specialises in the overlap between landscape architecture and environmental justice with specialisations in democratic design, digital media, and interpreting cultural landscapes. He joins as Visiting Professor of Landscape Architecture.
Architect and architectural historian Swati Chattopadhyay is Professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of California. She specialises in modern architecture and urbanism, and the cultural landscape of the British Empire, and will provide a global perspective on architectural histories and theories teaching.
I’m absolutely delighted to be able to appoint and welcome our new visiting professors who reinforce our characteristics of excellence, ambition, boldness, inquisitiveness, innovation, and social responsibility.
School of Architecture alumna and former lecturer Dr Harriet Harriss is an internationally known architect, educator, historian, author, scholar, and is now Dean of one of the Pratt Institute in New York – one of the top architecture schools in the world. Dr Harriss will provide valuable insight into her specialist areas, timely and urgent themes as feminism; equity, decolonisation, diversity and inclusion; civic engagement; climate crisis; and queer ecologies.
Originally from Manchester, Michelle Ogundehin is internationally renowned as a thought-leader on interiors, wellbeing, trends and style. Dubbed 'the interiors guru' by The Sunday Times, her book Happy Inside: How to Harness the Power of Home for Health is an Amazon bestseller, and she features on Interior Design Masters with host Alan Carr and co-hosts Grand Designs: House of the Year.
We began our worldwide search almost a year ago and so it’s very exciting to have appointed such an impressive group of visiting professors who bring incredible experience and expertise to our School for the benefit of our students and to support our talented staff team.
World-class structural engineer Les Postawa, founding Principal of Les Postawa Associates, has 45 years of experience in the design and delivery of projects throughout the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, including three RIBA Stirling Prize winners (The Centenary Building at Salford, Madrid Airport, and MAXXI in Rome), and will enhance the school’s expertise in structural design.
Paul Williams is widely regarded as one of the UK’s most eminent architects and he will bring his invaluable expertise to teaching of the school’s design studio, especially in the particular areas of re-use and refurbishment as well as the design of contemporary buildings in sensitive contexts. His practice Stanton Williams has won more than 100 awards, including the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize, and has worked on projects including the opening up of the Royal Opera House and Central Saint Martins.