Internationally renowned architect joins UWE Bristol

Dr Piers Taylor has joined UWE Bristol as the new Professor of Knowledge Exchange in Architecture.

The award-winning architect, broadcaster and academic brings an internationally renowned reputation in his field to the University and will lead and develop a creative, collaborative and innovative knowledge exchange of enterprise, teaching and research projects within the School of Architecture and Environment.

Dr Taylor has been called ‘one of the brightest architects in the profession’ and has designed a number of seminal buildings, including the RIBA award-winning ‘Room 13’, the large mixed-use project at East Quay, Watchet, and the Wolfson Tree Management Centre at Westonbirt Arboretum. His built work has been published extensively and internationally, and typically pushes boundaries in terms of technique and process. He is known for his resourceful ‘thinking outside of the box’ and his challenging of mainstream convention in architecture and in education.

Piers, who took up his appointment of Professor of Knowledge Exchange in Architecture on 1 December, said: “I’m thrilled to have been appointed to this post, which is a fantastic opportunity to bring together my combined research interests of making and social impact, practice and teaching in a way that continues to build relationships between UWE Bristol and other organisations and institutions locally and globally, and locate learning within these relationships.”

Dr Matthew Jones, Dean and Head of School of Architecture and Environment, said: “We are delighted to welcome Piers Taylor to UWE Bristol as Professor of Knowledge Exchange in Architecture. At a moment when the profession of architecture and its education is changing in response to the climate emergency, widening inequality and increased digitisation, we need to challenge convention. Piers’ appointment embraces that opportunity.

“As a multi-award-winning architect who has consistently pushed the boundaries of architectural practice, Piers brings a wealth of experience of joining the dots between industry, research, and teaching. He will inspire our students to think differently and act bravely to create positive change locally, regionally and beyond.”

Piers’ appointment will strengthen the university’s reputation for community-engaged projects and action-based learning and research, alongside an ambition to nurture creative practice and practice-led research. Knowledge exchange - a process of sharing academic ideas and insights beyond the institution and bringing external views and perspectives in – offers the opportunity to connect architectural practice, research and teaching to create real-world impact.

In addition to founding the architectural practice Invisible Studio, Piers is a former Design Fellow at the University of Cambridge, a Studio Master at London’s Architectural Association on the Design and Make Programme, and sits on the South West Design Review Panel. He is also the convenor of the annual Studio in the Woods. He lives in an award winning self-built house (Moonshine) in a 100 acre woodland which he manages as an ongoing forest enterprise. Piers is widely engaged in a number of topical architectural issues, and contributes regularly to many architectural journals and documentaries. He is currently working on an in-depth film about Jorn Utzon’s relationship with Mallorca, and writing a book about architecture’s relationship with the local.