Biography

Dr Samuel Vardy is Head of the Department of Architecture at MTU, which incorporates programmes in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Architectural Technology.

Sam is a trained architect, a researcher and architectural educator, and produces interdisciplinary research at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, contemporary art practice, and social science. Sam studied to doctorate level at the Sheffield University School of Architecture, where he subsequently taught UG and PG design studio. Since then, Sam has taught Architecture, Architectural Technology and Interior Architecture for 15 years, and prior to joining MTU developed innovative architectural pedagogies while programme leader for the M.Arch in Architecture (RIBA Part 2) course at Sheffield Hallam University.

Before academia, Sam worked in leading architectural practices in the UK, including at Allen Tod Architects (Sheffield), Prue Chiles Architects (Sheffield) and Levitt Bernstein Architects (London). Here he specialised in the cultural and heritage sectors and in housing, delivering public projects such as the renovation and extension of Barnsley Civic Hall and the historic Scarborough Creative Industries Centre. Sam sits on the Steering Group of the international Architectural Humanities Research Association (AHRA).

Research Areas

Sam’s current research involves developing transdisciplinary between architecture, art and science to interrogate two main concerns – Dismantling Border-Imperialism, and Speculative Ecologies. This work, with Dr Paula McCloskey of Derby School of Fine Art (UK) has produced a range of performances, installations, exhibitions, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications including the forthcoming Special Issue of Architecture and Culture – Border Fictions in 2024. Sam is also working on a Digital Counter-Cartography of
the Border in Ireland, funded by the BA/Leverhulme Trust, and Spéirscéalta / Stories of the Air – a SFI funded project working with atmospheric physicists in The University of Galway and local communities in Galway and Connemara to explore how local, cultural and historic knowledge about the air enriches or contradicts scientific understanding. Sam also investigates alternative notions of architectural design and architectural practice based on critical theories of participation, autonomy, feminist architectures, and self-organised spaces, to explore infrastructures of autonomy and inclusion, and diverse modes of collective design and spatial production.