Citizen Designer: problems and opportunities with Sarah Wigglesworth MBE

This talk will cover the relationship between the architect and society, exploring the manner in which the architectural profession, and development in general, has managed its engagement with non-expert citizens in helping shape the built environment. It will cover socio-cultural issues such as how we reach representatives across all communities, discussing communication issues, knowledge building, and how we build trust. Finally, the talk will examine some techniques used in Sarah Wigglesworth Architects’ work, and consider their effects and limitations.

Accessibility

An access guide to Birkbeck Room B34 can be found on AccessAble.

About the speaker

Sarah Wigglesworth is an award-winning architect with over 30 years of experience, spanning both practice, as founder of her own world renowned architectural practice, and education, as a former Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. She is widely regarded as one of the great modern pioneering influences of British architecture, with extensive expertise in green and sustainable design across both the public and private sector. Sarah has also been a long-time champion for women in the architectural space, both as a critic of the field’s male-dominated practices and as an advocate for enabling more equitable access.

In 2003, Sarah was awarded an MBE for her services to architecture, later being made a CABE Commissioner in 2010, and then Royal Designer for Industry by the RSA in 2012. Sarah is also a Design Council Built Environment Expert, a member of the Hounslow and Ealing Design Review Panels, and former member of the Oxford City, Kingston upon Thames Design Review panels and the LLDC Quality Panel.

Sarah also has a long-standing relationship with academia and, during her 19 years at the University of Sheffield, led the DWELL research project, focused on designing exemplary neighbourhoods and housing for older people.

About this event series

Dreams, Desires and Aspirations: Imaginative Landscapes of Prosperity

At UCL Institute for Global Prosperity we are working towards a new model of prosperity for the 21st century, reworking the way we conceive and run our economies, our societies, and our relationship with the planet. Our social and collective imaginaries, dreams, and aspirations are at the core of that mission, not only in understanding how people strive towards ideas of prosperity, but in unearthing how and why different ideas are constructed as they are. This term, we are inviting scholars, novelists, politicians, artists, and film-makers to help us excavate some of the imaginary forces that brought ‘prosperity’ to where it is today, and where it might be taken tomorrow.

Soundbites are a platform for professionals and entrepreneurs who are leading in their field. Speakers are innovators and inspiring actors working in new and traditional sectors, outside of academia. The Soundbite gives the audience an insight into how their organisation contributes to sustainable and inclusive prosperity.

For more events in this series visit the series page ►