Ms Emma Curtin B.A.Hons Dip Arch ARB

Emma's main teaching focus is on the professionally accredited BA Architecture, in the design studio. She is currently leading Studio 2 in BA2. She intends to continue building on the work and themes developed through her previous experience in BA3.

Emma led the BA3 Architecture design studio CCS (Communities and Contested Spaces) for several years. This studio encouraged a design process focused on people’s everyday experiences of architecture and how we may better engage with the communities and places we encounter, especially in the context of current unfolding political, economic and environmental crises. Offering radical architectural propositions offers the potential to help communities or decision makers imagine different ways of operating. In this way student projects can contribute to positive change in the built environment.

Architecture demands a negotiation of shared space and global resources; and is therefore a political practice. The studio nurtures a responsible approach to design considering the impact of design decisions on both immediate users of proposed designs but also the wider global community. This means there is an emphasis on re-use and working with low-carbon materials. Projects are sometimes devised with live clients such as community groups or co-operatives introducing students to organisational structures with motivations beyond profit. Projects are situated in a near future low-carbon economy allowing students to break with business-as-usual approaches to design and construction which are incompatible with a liveable planet. This approach requires constant reflection by the teaching team and engagement with wider discourse around teaching and learning of architectural design in the age of climate emergency.

Emma also supervises MArch Architecture dissertations and has been involved in teaching across BA, MA and MArch programmes in the department of Architecture.

Modules for 2023-24