MSc Architecture and Environmental Design

Tutors: Rosa Schiano-Phan (Course Leader), Mehrdad Borna, Paolo Cascone, Joana Goncalves, Kartikeya Rajput, Amedeo Scofone, Juan Vallejo, Zhenzhou Weng

In 2020/21 the Architecture and Environmental Design MSc, having started in January and moved online, focused on the investigation of the environmental performance of work and live environments during the pandemic. Thanks to the QHT Online Learning Experience fund 2020, the students were included in an unprecedented experiment called ‘Sensing the Changing Environment’, involving the simultaneous environmental monitoring and analysis of their own residences around the world. This study led to the semester 2 design brief on ‘Designing for the Changing Environment in the times of the Pandemic’, begun in May 2021. Proposals for the complete re-imagination of the studied sites were offered by the students with attention to the compounding requirements of a post-pandemic society, climate change and resources conservation.

The course successfully continues the Collaborative Thesis Programme with Industry, partnering with a range of architectural firms and environmental consultancies. To date theses feature a variety of topics in different climatic and socio-political contexts. The MSc AED embeds the BREEAM Approved Graduate course, while being Learning Affiliate with the Energy Institute. These initiatives have led to joint publications and employment opportunities for our students.

Guest Critics:

Filomena Russo (University of Cambridge), Paula Cadima (Architectural Association), Vince Ugarow (Hilson Moran), Matthew Marson (Arcadis)

Special Thanks:

Carine Berger, Conor Black (Arup), Effie Chatzistefanou (WSP), Karl Cullen (chapmanbdsp), Camilo Diaz (WSP), Christian Dimbleby (Architype), Sebastian Eugenio (Architype), Catherine Harrington (Architype), Mina Hasman (SOM), Dean Hawkes (University of Cambridge), Patrik Hermon (LCD), Sandeep Kapoor (Arcadis), Maddalena Laddaga, Joao Matos Da Silva, Phil McIlwain (Stroma), Andrew Moore (Hilson Moran), Vince Ugarow (Hilson Moran)

Rosa Schiano-Phan is an architect, consultant and academic who has worked in environmental design consultancy and research for the past 20 years.  Rosa taught at the Architectural Association and coordinated numerous interdisciplinary EU-funded research projects at Nottingham University.  She is the co-author of The Architecture of Natural Cooling (Routledge, 2020).

Joana Goncalves is an architect and academic working as a Visiting Lecturer for the MSc AED, as well as at The Bartlett and the Architectural Association.  She was Associate Professor of Environmental Design at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo and has taught at Harvard University.  She is the Vice-President of the PLEA conference and author of several international publications.

Students: