What is it that we are talking about when we speak of culture? Raymond Williams suggests that there are three intertwined definitions. Culture as an independent and abstract noun that describes a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development; culture in the sense of a particular way of life or a dominant ideology that belongs to a people, group, class or nation; and thirdly culture as a collective noun that describes the sum total of intellectual and aesthetic activity.
Within the context of an architecture department, this research group aims, through both teaching and research, to embrace all three definitions. At its core lies the history and theory of buildings and cites. As such, the Cultural and Historical Studies theme explores how and why buildings and cites are produced and used, how they are represented and the meanings we attach to them. It follows then that, at the heart of Cultural and Historical Studies, lies not only the conventional terrains of history, but also the exploration of the relationships between architecture and fields as diverse as music, painting, literature, politics, economics, critical theory, media and visual culture.
Research Themes
The social, political and economic history of architectural and urban development in Russia, Britain and continental Europe
Architecture, Literature, Film and the Arts
Modern British Architecture - Brutalism, Denys Lasdun and Cedric Price
The concept of Living Space
Spaces of labour - The social and architectural history of the labour process
Recent publications and projects
Architexture; Perspectives on Architecture and Literature'. (Edited Collection 2009)Marx for architects (2009)
The Shadow of Economic History; The architecture of boom, slump and crisis. (ARQ)
'Never so serious': Venturi's Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery, London (Center for Advanced Study of the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington)
The Glimmer of Other Worlds; Questions on alternative architectural practice (ARQ)
Ghost Trips -on the phenomenology of buildings and spaces associated with tragic historical events. (University of Brandenburg).
Unlearning lessons: Denys Lasdun in the 1950s Part 1 and 2 (ARQ)
The Lasdun archive at the RIBA/V&A.
Archive of Glasgow Letters on Architecture and Space
Archive of Narratives of the Unseen City
Recent Narratives of the Unseen City
Exploring Textual and Architectural Spaces, April 2008, University of Stathclyde
A brief architectural history of the Royal College of Physicians
Research and Postgraduate Pathways
Master of Science (MSc) in Sustainable Engineering: Building Design and Management (launching October 2012)
Master of Research (MRes) in Building Design and Management for Sustainability
PhD programme
Potential PhD Topics
Modernism, Brutalism
Reuse of 20th century buildings
Industrial heritage buildings and spaces
Architecture and literature
Interdisciplinary studies