Associate Lecturer - MA Architecture (0.2 FTE, Fixed term)

The Royal College of Art (RCA) is the world’s leading university of art and design, dedicated to advancing creativity, criticality, and innovation. Within this context, the School of Architecture, led by Dr Adrian Lahoud, offers a stimulating and vibrant environment for postgraduate study. Based in one of the world’s most dynamic cities for design and the creative industries, the School provides a unique space for experimentation, dialogue, and collaboration across disciplines.

Our MA Architecture programme encourages students to extend their material, conceptual, and technical skills while forming strong networks and creative partnerships that will sustain their future practices. At its heart is the Architectural Design Studio (ADS): a critical platform where project-based pedagogy is supported by historical, theoretical, and technical seminars. Students are introduced to diverse methods of design research, with opportunities for external engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and fieldwork.

We are now seeking to appoint an Associate Lecturer (0.2 FTE) for one academic year to co-teach an ADS that examines how different species thrive in post-industrial sites, forming new relations and alliances with humans across damaged terrains. Students’ projects will focus on emerging landscapes, ecological interdependencies, and the encroachment of the commons, exploring human–animal intimacies through mapping, fieldwork, and design research. The studio will challenge normative paradigms of land ownership, productivity, and ecological value, ultimately producing speculative architectures and forms of multispecies cohabitation on the ruins of extractivism.

The Role

As an Associate Lecturer, you will contribute to the delivery of high-quality postgraduate teaching, bringing your expertise in architectural research, practice, and pedagogy to support and inspire students. Working as part of a team of 2–3 tutors within the studio, you will guide students through design projects, provide one-to-one and group tutorials, offer regular feedback, and participate in assessment. You will also contribute to fieldwork, curriculum design, and interdisciplinary dialogue, ensuring students benefit from a dynamic and supportive learning environment.

In addition, you will be expected to:

• Deliver specialist teaching that integrates design research, theory, and practice.
• Support student learning through critical dialogue, experimental approaches, and inclusive teaching methods.
• Participate in programme activities, planning sessions, and field trips as appropriate.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of architectural discourse, ecological debates, and relevant professional contexts.
• Contribute to the academic citizenship of the School, including staff–student consultative processes and equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.

About You

We are seeking applicants with:

• A postgraduate degree in a relevant specialism.
• Proven experience teaching and supervising student work at MA or equivalent level, including blended and online learning.
• A track record of research and/or practice engaging with ecological, political, or social dimensions of architecture, such as climate justice, food systems, or post-industrial landscapes.
• Experience with practice-based and experimental research methods, from developing innovative building materials to socially embedded design processes.
• Active engagement with critical discourses in architecture and ecology, including more-than-human perspectives.

It would also be advantageous to bring:

• Experience in collaborative and multimedia studio teaching.
• A publication or exhibition record linking design practice to wider cultural and political debates.
• Connections to community, activist, or artistic networks that could enrich the programme.
• A postgraduate certificate in higher education and/or HEA fellowship, or willingness to undertake training within two years.

An exciting opportunity to join one of the world’s leading centres for architectural education and contribute to shaping future practices of ecological and social relevance.

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