Get Sust! Issue 37

 

The Oxford Conference: Architectural education - 50 years on

Will 2008 be a turning point for architectural education? 1958 certainly was: “The 1958 Conference led many to see architecture incorrectly as purely academic and they eschewed students getting their hands dirty,” writes Professor Tom Woolley, one of a large number of respected academics who will be descending on Oxford in July to seek to re-direct architectural education towards a more sustainable future.

“If future architectural education is also to safeguard the planet then we need to revive a humanistic, socially responsible, ethical approach and challenge architecture based on egotistical arrogance and self-indulgence,” says Woolley (on the Conference website).

The event, which will take place at the Examination Schools, Oxford, on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 July, will comprise inspirational keynote lectures and a series of forums on topics ranging from “Buildings and the Environment” and “Materials and Renewable Energy” to “Sustaining Studio Education in a Climate of Change” and “Research into Teaching Courses”.

 

 

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Full details are at www.oxfordconference2008.co.uk.

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There’s also a pre-conference debate on the topic “Architecture would be better off without schools of architecture” at the world-famous Oxford Union on Monday 21 July 2008.