OVERVIEW
In September 2022, The Bartlett School of Architecture welcomed Professor Amy Kulper (who formerly helmed the architecture program at the Rhode Island School of Design) as its new director following a search for a “transformative leader.” This announcement came after months of ongoing revelations about the “toxic culture” that had taken hold of the school over the past few decades, wherein students were subjected to bullying, sexual misconduct and racism. With Kulper’s appointment, the school may be able to save its reputation as one of the best in the world. On its website, the Bartlett vows that, to nurture students of all backgrounds, “race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or beliefs” it is “radically rethinking [its] academic approach from top to bottom, and challenging the priority that has traditionally been given to white, male, Western voices and the established ‘canon’ of textbooks and teaching materials.”
The Bartlett School of Architecture is pedagogically situated alongside the School of Planning, the School of Sustainable Construction and the School of the Environment, Energy and Resources. It offers 16 degree-granting programs, including a three-year Bachelor (approximately 70 per cent of which is taught and assessed through the student’s design portfolio), a five-year integrated Master’s of Science [AP3] in Architecture (the final year of which is a work placement that covers 80 per cent of the tuition for that year), a Bachelor of Science [AP4] in Architectural & Interdisciplinary Studies (where students tailor their own degree by taking modules at The Bartlett alongside other modules from across University College London), and a Master’s of Engineering (MEng). Students can also specialize in such niche areas as space syntax, cinematic and video game architecture, and fire safe design.
NOTABLE ALUMNI
Julien de Smedt, Elin Pernilla Ohrstedt, Marcin Chmura
NOTABLE FACULTY
Visiting faculty include Elizabeth Diller, Amanda Levete and Leslie Lokko
