In the newest episode of the A is for Architecture Podcast Beth Hughes, Head of Architecture at the Royal College of Art, London, spoke with me about, well, all sorts – but mainly how architecture is taught now, what sort of thinkers and doers this produces, and therefore what sort of urbanism and architecture we can expect to get from them.
The financial and social barriers built into how architects are trained shapes who designs cities and buildings, which changes the shape of the places we end up living in.
To this end, Beth and I discuss Britain’s Architects Registration Board’s proposals to widen access to the profession by reforming the way architects are trained, with many schools now promoting a shorter and less architecturish route to qualification. Others, like the Royal College of Art, are maintaining the existing postgraduate model –a two-year programme.
It’s an interesting moment, one which see the marketization of higher education marry with student anxieties and concerns about costs and employability, to deliver into an ever-more pressured professional context more deployable graduates from a more representative cross-section of society.
Ultimately, we speak about Beth’s vision – I guess – of what a future mode of practice built by her graduates might look like.
Beth can be found at work and on LinkedIn.
+
Image: RCA students Work In Progress show installation, © RCA
Music credits: Bruno Gillick