The Bartlett School of Architecture has announced Professor Amy Kulper as its next Director, following "an international search for a transformative leader," the school emphasized in its press statement. 

Professor Amy Kulper's role at the school as Director will start from 1 September 2022. 

Kulper, who is currently the Head of Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), will replace Professor Bob Sheil, who has directed the school for eight years.

She is an architectural educator, administrator and innovator, whose teaching and research field focus on the intersections of history, theory, criticism and design.

She has previously taught at the University of Cambridge, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Southern California Institute for Architecture (SCI_Arc), and the University of Michigan, where she was an associate professor with tenure and four-time recipient of the Donna M. Salzer Award for teaching excellence.

"I am honoured to have been selected as the next Director of The Bartlett School of Architecture and look forward to future collaborations with staff and students," said Professor Amy Kulper, incoming Director of The Bartlett School of Architecture. 

"We are currently witnessing a sea-change in architectural education as the architect’s role is strategically expanded to include fluency and expertise in racial, social, and environmental justice and decoloniality." 

"The Bartlett is a global leader in the pedagogy of the built environment, and I look forward to harnessing the creative innovations of its community as we embrace this transformation in the education of the architect," Kulper added.

The school stated that Amy Kulper's name comes after "an international search for a transformative leader."

At Rhode Island School of Design, she has continued to "shape contemporary architectural thought." 

In March 2019 she co-chaired the ACSA national conference Black Box: Articulating Architecture’s Core in the Post-Digital Era. 

Meanwhile, as a part of the conference, she co-curated the exhibition, Drawing for the Design Imaginary at the Carnegie-Mellon Museum. 

More recently she also co-curated the exhibition of Drawing Attention: The Digital Culture of Contemporary Architectural Drawings, a group exhibition at Roca Gallery in London.

"Amy is an inspirational voice for architectural education internationally"

"Amy is an inspirational voice for architectural education internationally and I am truly excited about her appointment," said Professor Christoph Lindner, Dean of The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment and Chair of the Selection Committee.

"She has a driving passion for the transformative power of equality, diversity, and inclusion in higher education, alongside extensive and nuanced knowledge and experience in the field of architecture, bridging practice, design, history and theory," Lindner added.

Her scholarly work has been published in edited volumes and journals, including the Journal of Architecture, The Architectural Review, Log, Architecture and Culture, arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, and Candide. 

From 2011 to 2017, she served as the Design Editor for the Journal of Architectural Education, receiving the ACSA Distinguished Service Award for her work in transforming the design content of the journal.

The Bartlett School of Architecture houses a community of almost 2000 students and staff. The school is ranked first in the UK for architecture and the built environment (QS World Rankings).

Top image: Amy Kulper, courtesy of The Bartlett School of Architecture.

> via The Bartlett School of Architecture