ABSTRACT
The 2016 referendum in the UK on EU withdrawal brought into focus the borders of the UK architectural profession. As architects they often have to fight against the peculiarly British approach to procurement, one that seems at odds with attitudes to the profession elsewhere, often marginalising our contribution and reducing our scope. A risk-averse commissioning culture promotes a fear of younger and smaller firms, especially ones that are strongly motivated by academic curiosity and an interest in how architecture is made. In 1974 the theorist Christian Norberg-Schultz in Genius Loci, Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture asserted, ‘Man dwells when he can orientate himself within and identify himself with an environment’ and ‘The task of the architect is to create meaningful places whereby he helps man to dwell.’ The ambition, both as practitioners and teachers, is to approach architecture as a form of praxis, a critical dialogue that encompasses and intertwines academia and the work of practice.
