Christopher Platt
Chair of Architecture & Director, studioKAP architects
Architecture
Mackintosh School of Architecture, studioKAP architects
Research Interests
Architecture, Architectural Education, Architectural Thinking, Architectural Practice
Research Profile
Christopher Platt is Chair of Architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow, at the Glasgow School of Art where he was Head of School between 2011 and 2017. He is a registered architect in Great Britain and was previously a member of the Architektenkammer in Berlin. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was made a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects of Scotland in 2009. His first 20 years of professional practice was spent in Glasgow, London, Oxford, Ethiopia and Berlin. This was followed by 20 years combining academia with independent, reflective practice in studioKAP (www.studioKAP.com), which he co-founded in 2019 and leads with Helen Campbell. The practice’s award-winning architectural outputs have also been the focus of practice-based researchmore...
Christopher Platt is Chair of Architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow, at the Glasgow School of Art where he was Head of School between 2011 and 2017. He is a registered architect in Great Britain and was previously a member of the Architektenkammer in Berlin. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was made a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects of Scotland in 2009. His first 20 years of professional practice was spent in Glasgow, London, Oxford, Ethiopia and Berlin. This was followed by 20 years combining academia with independent, reflective practice in studioKAP (www.studioKAP.com), which he co-founded in 2019 and leads with Helen Campbell. The practice’s award-winning architectural outputs have also been the focus of practice-based research regularly published in arq-Architectural Research Quarterly. The critically-acclaimed book, ‘Dwelling with Architecture’ written with Rod Kemsley and published by Routledge in 2012 explores fundamental issues about architecture, architectural practice and education through the lens of ‘dwelling’. With the Swiss Publishing House, Park Books, he is currently editing a book, ‘Architects on Dwelling’ exploring the design processes of a number of MSA colleagues who are also active in architectural practice. He was a member of the RIBA President’s Silver Medal Judging Panel in 2014 and the RIBA President’s Research Awards Judging Panel in 2016. In 2019 he was appointed Chair and Coordinator of the Architecture and Urbanism Research Evaluation Panel for Portugal on behalf of The Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (the Portuguese equivalent of the UK REF). In 2020 he was invited to join the External Advisory Committee of the University of Minho Doctoral College in Portugal. He was instrumental in establishing an MoU with the University of Rwanda, GSA’s first MoU with a Global South HEI. Current practice-based research activities include collaboration with the University of Rwanda exploring innovative and inclusive design methodologies for barrier-free student housing and a collaboration with Build X Studio examining architecture’s role in supporting victims of human trafficking in East Africa. In combining practice, teaching and research in the Global North and Global South, he continues to critically examine issues of architecture, architectural thinking and being an architect at the beginning of the 21st century.
Qualifications
C.Arch, Dip. Arch, RIBA, FRIAS, FHEA