Research

Research at the Kent School of Architecture is growing fast in scope and reputation. Since our inception in 2005 we have established exciting new directions in both the history and theory of architecture and in sustainable design. The School is committed to nurturing and developing young scholars, with eight new research appointments added to our team since 2010.

KSA researchers are active in the whole field of architectural investigation. Our researchers include practising architects, whose work has been published internationally, leading contributors to current debates on the sustainable built environment, historians and theoreticians. We publish widely, from articles in scholarly journals to articles and books for a general readership. We organise high-profile, international conferences – launched with the highly successful New Directions in Gothic Revival Studies Worldwide in 2012 – and we are active in public policy through our work on amenity societies and voluntary organisations. Teaching throughout the undergraduate school is continuously refreshed by its close relationship with researchers who are at the cutting edge of investigation, and guest lecturers hosted by our research centres reach a wide audience across the Faculty.

Researchers at the Kent School of Architecture are members of one of our two research centres – CREAte, the Centre for Research in European Architecture, and CASE, the Centre for Architecture and Sustainable Environment.

CREAte

CREAte, The Centre for Research in European Architecture, came into existence in 2007 to establish the foundation for KSA’s Research and to produce and disseminate excellence in architectural research across wide range of subjects.

CREAte builds on the department’s distinctive strengths – architectural theory and criticism, history of modernism in Britain, Renaissance and early modern studies, landscape studies, urban design , contemporary architectural theory, integration of the critical knowledge with a creative work, and its relation to the public and the region.

CREAte members have active links with national amenity societies and other organisations including the Architectural Humanities Research Association, Victorian Society, Turner Contemporary, V&A and the Twentieth Century Society: two of our members have published monographs in the highly regarded Twentieth Century Architects series (RIBA / C20S / English Heritage).

CREAte has recently organised two major International conferences.

CASE

CASE, the Centre for Architecture and Sustainable Environment, the most recent of our Centres, promotes research in the field of sustainable design. Its focus encompasses different aspects and scales of the sustainable built environment from the individual building to the urban block and the user experience of space. In the context of climate change, research focuses in particular on sustainable building design, including history of environmental design and climate change and more recently expanded to the experience of space and the way it is affected by emerging technologies. Since its inception in 2011, the Centre has received around £ 500k research funding from a range of external and internal sources, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board.

CASE members have active links with both Architectural and Engineering Professional Bodies, as well as Government Departments.

KSA's research community is growing as we welcome doctoral students across all the areas in which we specialise. In 2012 we were joined by a further 5 students, who will also have the opportunity to join in all the activities of the School and its two research centres in the fields of sustainable design and the history and theory of architecture.

See our research centre and staff webpages for further details about our members, their interests and their activities, and how to contact them.