Key details
Date
- 18 September 2016
Author
- RCA
Read time
- 1 minute
Following an international search, Beth Hughes has been appointed as Head of Architecture in the MA Architecture at the Royal College of Art. Beth was an Associate at Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) – Rem Koolhaas, where she oversaw their urban-design portfolio covering projects in the UK, Middle East and Latvia. Prior to OMA Beth worked for a number of design firms in Australia including Lacoste + Stevenson.
Key details
Date
- 18 September 2016
Author
- RCA
Read time
- 1 minute
Hughes works across multiple scales, contexts and building types: from housing to high-rise towers, large-scale master-plans to cultural institutions and curatorial strategies. Notable projects include BBC White City master-plan, the new Design Museum and redevelopment of the Former Commonwealth Institute site, the Customs House renovation for the City of Sydney Library and the Riga Contemporary Art Museum.
Beth has taught at several institutions including the Bartlett UCL, the University of Syracuse and the University of Cambridge. She is currently writing a book on the island of Leros in Greece with Dr Platon Issaias in collaboration with photographer Yannis Drakoulidis. Beth’s work is exhibited and published internationally, and she has been awarded in several international competitions including Europan and the Nordic Built Challenge.
Professor Naren Barfield, Pro-Rector, RCA said, ‘From a fiercely competitive field, Beth Hughes was the outstanding candidate, combining achievements and recognition working in demanding global practices, a rigorous understanding of the key challenges facing the discipline, and a commitment to develop the research questions and methods that will define architecture education for the coming years. The panel was impressed by Beth’s dynamism, vision and work as an educator, allied to her critical and inquisitive approach to design. We are delighted that she has accepted the leadership of the architecture programme at the RCA.’
Dr Adrian Lahoud, Dean of Architecture, RCA said: ‘Beth has the perfect mix of qualities for a head of programme; she is fearless and ferociously intelligent. Her research work on the militarisation of the Mediterranean is provocative and could not be more pertinent, while her achievements in practice are at the highest level, running complex, large-scale projects in the UK and Middle East. I haven’t seen a candidate combine so many facets of architectural practice and culture with this much distinction. She arrives at the School in a moment of renewed ambition and purpose; we are absolutely delighted that she has agreed to take on this role.’