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Cambridge Architecture Department - Closure Protest 29/11
on Archinect, the University of Cambridge is considering the closure of its Department of Architecture:
"The University's General Board has recommended the closure of the Department of Architecture. A decision will be taken on 8 December and, if there is no reprieve, the matter will go before the University for a vote. The reason for the decision is said to be academic but the root cause is the financial loss caused by the Department's slippage from a 5 grade to a 4 in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The recommendation for closure was totally unexpected. Considerable economies had been achieved and planned through the withdrawal of the Diploma and two M Phil courses, by early retirements and the reduction of all accommodation into Scroope Terrace and Bene't Place. In parallel with this, there has been a huge rise in research productivity and income."
"Its closure – mainly as a result of a deeply flawed research assessment exercise – would set a grim precedent for architecture education and research within UK universities generally."
Many of us who reject the closure are protesting on Monday 29th November 1pm in Cambridge, if you share our concerns please come along.
latest
http://society.guardian.co.uk/urbandesign/story/0,11200,1361885,00.html
does anybody have any information and/or photographs from the protest? please post here or in the image gallery.
righteous fist -
tried to send an email to you, but it backfired...
if you are going to the protest (or anyone for that matter), send /post some pics.
"As the government body charged with promoting the value of good architecture, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment would like to add its voice to the growing campaign against proposals to close Cambridge University's School of Architecture (Architects attack 'philistine' move by Cambridge, November 30)."
...Guardian
Contrary to what the generally believed idea is, about the reasons being financial, I have been told by a good source that this has most to do with the ideology of architecture. Cambridge sees architecture as being too "technical" and not research based, like it wants all its colleges to be - which in itself is a contradiction. At any rate, viewing architecture as purely technical is definitely an oversight by the administration. Seems that Cambridge is trying to be like Oxford (not oxford brookes)- in that it doesn't have an architecture program, which is a really dumb reason too.
New View - Threatened Closure of Cambridge University School of Architecture, by Peter Sparks
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