MPhil/PhD Architectural Space & Computation Programme Tutor: Professor Laura Vaughan
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2016
Current Students Andre Afonso, Marcela Aragüez Escobar, Moritz Behrens, Deborah Do Rosario Benros, John Bingham-Hall, Tom Bolton, Pheereeya Boonchaiyapruek, Giulio Brugnaro, Cauê Capillé, Frosso (Efrosini) Charalambous, Blerta Dino, Francesca Froy, Paul Goodship, Evan Greenberg, Emma Gribble, Abril Herrera Chavez, Fani Kostourou, Petros Koutsolampros, Kimon-Vincent Krenz, Stephen Law, Athina Lazaridou, Velina Mirincheva, Nurulhuda Mohammad Isa, Rosica Pachilova, Stamatios Psarras, Yao Shen, Dimitrie Stefanescu, Frederik Weissenborn. Graduating Students David Andreen, Ashley Dhanani, Sadaf Sultan Khan, Samuel Wilkinson, Laura Narvaez Zertuche
Leading to a PhD in Architecture, the MPhil/PhD Architectural Space & Computation (PhD ASC) programme is associated with the world-renowned Space Syntax Laboratory. The lab has an interdisciplinary research ethos, seeking to advance knowledge by studying the relations between spatial patterns and social outcomes, and between architectural design knowledge and computation. The PhD ASC has two principal streams: Space and Society in Buildings and Cities − here students use space syntax theories and methods to study the effects of spatial design on aspects of social, organisational and economic performance of buildings and urban areas; and Architectural Computation − here students apply technology to research into the built environment, bringing innovative computational analytical methods to the heart of the design process. The PhD ASC offers the ideal intellectual environment to develop interdisciplinary research from an architectural perspective. Whilst the programme is intended primarily for students from an architectural or urban design background wishing to pursue a programme that involves empirical research, many of our students hold degrees from other disciplines, such as geography, philosophy, anthropology, urban history, crime science, physics and computer science. Students pursue independent research projects supervised by a principal and secondary supervisor, culminating in a doctoral thesis of up to 100,000 words. Student topics are aligned to staff members’ research interests, which range from media architecture and design interaction, architectural computation, urban form and society, workplace design and organisational behaviour, spatial narratives, space syntax and evidencebased design, urban design, spatial cultures and urban spatial history. Research supervision is complemented by a programme of fortnightly seminars throughout the academic year − some student-led, others led by leading experts from UCL and around the world. In the past year these have included Professor Howard Davis from the University of Oregon and Justin De Syllas of Avanti Architects. In their first year, students will commonly audit selected modules from the lab’s MSc programmes in Spatial Design or Architectural Computation, benefiting from the rigorous training in theories and methods that these provide. The PhD ASC programme is also associated with the InnoChain European research network and the Engineering Doctorate in Virtual Environments, Imaging & Visualisation. Students on these programmes will typically take some of their taught modules jointly with the PhD ASC. Current Supervisors Dr Martin Zaltz Austwick, Ava Fatah, Dr Duncan Brumby, Jorge Fiori, Professor Murray Fraser, Dr Sam Griffiths, Dr Sean Hanna, Dr Kayvan Karimi, Dr Liora Malki-Epshtein, Dr Paul Marshall, Peter McLennan, Dr Anna Mavrogianni, Professor Alan Penn, Dr Sophia Psarra, Dr Kerstin Sailer, Dr Tasos Varoudis, Professor Laura Vaughan
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