Professor Murray Fraser studied five degrees at UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture before starting his teaching career.
After working in practice, he went on to teach at Oxford Brookes and the University of Westminster before taking up his current post as Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture in 2011.
In July 2012 he was made Vice-Dean of Research for the wider faculty and today he has been formally awarded for his commitment to architectural education.
“His career as an educator has shown an unsurpassed level of influence over thousands of students at Oxford Brookes University, at the University of Westminster, and at the Bartlett School of Architecture, as well as over many aspects of architectural education,” said RIBA President, Ben Derbyshire.
“The academic rigour of his teaching of both design studio and history and theory, and his passionate commitment to the dissemination of architectural knowledge in the most diverse publishing formats make him a most deserving winner of this award.”
Throughout his career, Professor Fraser has been external examiner for a variety of Part 1 and Part 2 courses at institutions such as the Universities of Bath, Cambridge, Greenwich, Nottingham, East London, and Westminster, as well as on MA courses at UCL and University College Dublin.
He has provided advice on courses and research programmes at universities worldwide and has given numerous keynote lectures, seminars and workshops on architectural design, architectural history and theory, urbanism, and architectural education at institutions across the world.
As editor-in-chief of the Arena Journal of Architectural Research, and general editor of the 21st edition of the Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture, scheduled for publication in May 2019, his commitments are tremendous.
“This award means everything to me,” he said, when told he was the chosen recipient.
“Since I began teaching in the 1990s I have worked tirelessly to raise ambitions in design studio and architectural history and theory by making the process more collaborative and student-centred.”
He then went on to thank his students and dedicate this award to their effort and commitment: “I have been lucky enough to have worked in three excellent architectural schools – Oxford Brookes, Westminster and the Bartlett – alongside such brilliant students and colleagues, from whom I learnt a great deal about being an architect and an educator. This award is as much theirs as it is mine.”
Professor Murray Fraser will be presented the 2018 Annie Spink Award at a ceremony at the RIBA’s London HQ on Tuesday 4 December 2018.
