Professor Kevin Singh

National Teaching Fellow 2015 A Chartered Architect since 1997, Professor Kevin Singh is a graduate of the Birmingham School of Architecture of which he is now the head. His teaching career began as a visiting tutor, progressing to Director of Studies in the School of Interior Design. In 2003 he re-joined the School of Architecture as Programme Director for the postgraduate course, a position which he held until April 2011 when he was appointed as Head of School. Kevin was conferred as a Professor of Architecture in February 2013 following an application under the criterion of learning and teaching, and academic leadership. Bob Brown, Head of Architecture, Plymouth University, said: "Kevin Singh has established himself as a noted and respected academic and educator through his leadership of the Birmingham School of Architecture, and through his contributions to the wider architectural education community in the UK. He has instilled a vibrant energy in the School, and given the architecture programs a heightened sense of ambition and direction." His pedagogic focus is on the relationship between academia and practice as he seeks to contemporise architectural education. To this end he has pioneered a number of initiatives including Praxis (a 25-point plan towards employability), teaching practices (where students receive tutorials in architects' offices), a volunteer critic system that invites practitioners into the school, and Beyond Graduation (a non-credit bearing course designed to mentor students through the transition into industry). He has also been instrumental in supporting colleagues develop a 'live project' ethos in the school via the Co-Lab (collaborative laboratory) modules which he plans to extend into a formal live projects office. Kevin has a great interest in academic standards which he develops via the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Education Committee, as a Chairperson for RIBA validation boards, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA). He continues to have an interest in practice with The Space Studio, a small design-led practice founded in 2000 with a former student.