James Brown

I am an Associate Professor of Architecture, teaching on the 5-year Architecture programme and 2-year Master of Architecture and Urban Design.

My research explores the intersections of architectural education, material practice, and sustainability. I focus on studio-based pedagogy and the ways in which teaching methods shape architectural thinking, identity, and responsibility. A central strand of my work investigates design-build and live projects, where students both design and construct, as a means of bridging theory with practice while engaging with social, ecological, and material concerns. I am particularly interested in the role of wood as a sustainable material, examining its educational, technical, and environmental potentials. More broadly, I seek to understand how architectural thinking must adapt in response to the climate and ecological crises, reimagining professional practices to promote sustainability, justice, and circularity.

With Elizabeth Boling (Indiana University, USA), James Corazzo (Sheffield Hallam University, UK), Colin M. Gray (Purdue University, USA) Derek Jones (Open University, UK) and Nicole Lotz (Open University, UK) I'm the co-author of Studio Properties: a field guide to design studio (Bloomsbury, 2025) which is available Open Access CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 here.

With Sofie Pelsmakers (Tampere University, Finland) I am the co-editor Architectural Thinking in a Climate Emergency (Routledge, 2025) which is available Open Access CC BY-NC-ND here.

With my postdoctoral colleague Francesco Camilli I am the co-author of Practising Wood in Architecture: Connecting Design, Construction and Sustainability (Routledge, 2025) which was funded by a Kempe Foundations grant.

I am the author of Mediated Space: The Architecture of News, Advertising and Entertainment (RIBA Books, 2018) and the co-editor with Harriet Harriss, Ruth Morrow and James Soane of A Gendered Profession: the Question of Representation in Space Making (RIBA Books, 2016).

I studied Architecture at the University of Sheffield (BA Honours 2004 & Master of Architecture 2008). My PhD (Queen's University Belfast, 2012) developed a pedagogical critique of the live project in architectural education. Prior to emigrating to Sweden, I held academic positions at De Montfort University, Norwich University of the Arts, the Royal College of Art and the University of Nottingham.

In 2021 I won the Umeå University's Faculty of Science and Technology educational award for innovation and quality of education in the History of Architecture courses.