Introduction: Some Thoughts on Research Programs in Architecture

Abstract

Each year, the Bartlett School of Architecture doctoral program stages an annual conference to showcase the best research done by doctoral students from its Architectural Design and its Architectural History and Theory programs. Students either deliver a lecture or exhibit a visual work in the lobby spaces of the Bartlett School. While each year the conference is an enormous success, few traces remain of these ‘works in progress.’ Occasionally, a few small publications circulate with some highlights of the day, but it is fair to say that the impact remains modest. At Opticon1826 , UCL’s open access, peer-reviewed journal, we therefore collected a selection of the 2013 PhD Research Projects conference papers in a special issue dedicated to research on the built environment. Opticon1826 is a platform where the conference presenters extend their experience by translating their work from a conference script into a peer-reviewed journal article.