Our vision

For research to be effective in today’s complex and uncertain world we must increasingly cross the traditional boundaries between the sciences and arts. This recognition underpins the work of the New Centre of Spatial and Digital Ecologies, which explores landscape and architectural design, art, manufacturing and printing, as well as embodied, situated, performed and lived practices as they intersect with more scientific areas such as ecology and the environment. Our research also encompasses everything from the use of digital techniques in art and design to the societal impacts and equitability of current and future online, electronic and digital technologies.

We aim to:

• Create an environment for the production of research and knowledge exchange, which is generous, caring, experimental and innovative.
• Encourage practice-based researchers at every stage of their careers as they publish and present meaningful research.
• Support applications for external funding for research projects and potential impact case studies, ensuring that resources are equitably considered and shared in a transparent way.
• Develop strategic partnerships with external and industry partners.
• Support a broad range of research outputs

Who we are

An interdisciplinary approach

The Centre of Spatial and Digital Ecologies brings together architects and artists, designers and ecologists, landscape architects and theorists, urbanists and philosophers. The interdisciplinarity of research we undertake is explicit in our name. Neither the ‘spatial’ nor the ‘digital’ are the exclusive preserve of any single researcher  or programme of study. Instead, at the centre these areas connect, with the notion of ‘ecologies’ highlighting a relational approach that combines contemporary theory, philosophy and art practice with design solutions, architectural invention, climate approaches and green technologies. We realise that no research can have an impact without some degree of collaboration and cross-over; indeed, the most innovative research is often achieved when different fields work together. Therefore, an openness and generosity in experimenting between art design and theory, and more quantitative scientific practice, shapes all that we do.

Key staff

Ed Wall, Centre lead

Maria Korolkova, Deputy lead

Anushka Athique, Steering group

Sophie Beard, Steering group

Silvio Carta, Steering group

Oliver Gingrich, Steering group

Hannah Lammin, Steering group

Catherine Maffioleti, Steering group

Partners

Centre members have - and continue to cultivate - productive working relationships with a vast network of external organisations. Our academic partners range from the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London and the Harvard Graduate School of Design in the USA, to the Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India and the UN University’s Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources based in Germany. Outside academia we collaborate with the Venice Biennale for Architecture, the Royal Parks, the Greater London Authority, the Architecture Foundation, the Design Council, UN Habitat, the Royal Society of the Arts, Contemporary Digital Arts and Cyborg Nest, among many others.

Funding

The work of the Centre of Spatial and Digital Ecologies is currently supported through grants from organisations including the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Space Agency and Interreg Europe.