Professor Jeremy Till (born 5 April 1957) is a British architect, educator and writer. He is Professor of Architecture at
Central Saint Martins
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...
, University of the Arts London. He was Head of
Central Saint Martins
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...
and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the
University of the Arts London from 2012 to 2022.
Education
Till was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
(1970–75), Cambridge University (MA, 1979),
Polytechnic of Central London (Dip Arch 1983) and Middlesex University (MA Modern European Philosophy, 1999).
Architectural career
Till worked for relatively low-key architectural practices, Alex Gordon Partnership and Peter Currie Architects, before joining his partner,
Sarah Wigglesworth
Sarah Wigglesworth MBE RDI is a British award-winning architect and was a Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield until 2016.
Career
Wigglesworth foundeSarah Wigglesworth Architectsin 1994. Her practice has a reputation for sust ...
, to design and build their well known house and office, 9 Stock Orchard Street, which was featured on the first series of the TV Programme
Grand Designs; subsequently the presenter Kevin McCloud named the project as one of his favourite projects. The building, made from straw bales and other unconventional materials, was awarded
Civic Trust Award
The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment.
As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...
(2002),
RIBA National Award
RIBA National Awards are part of an awards program operated by the Royal Institute of British Architects, also encompassing the Stirling Prize, the European Award and the International Award. The National Awards are given to buildings in the UK w ...
(2004) and RIBA Sustainability Prize (2004). It has been published extensively worldwide, with the journal World Architecture saying: "It is destined to become an icon, the subject of dissertations and copycat projects. Unlike the established canon of exemplary houses, this house/office is a deep, dense and determined essay on the question: what is architecture today?" He left Sarah Wigglesworth Architects in 2002 to concentrate on an academic career. Till curated the British Pavilion at the 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale. the exhibition, entitled ''Echo City'' received very mixed reviews, with severe criticism from the London architectural press, but praise from international reviewers. He chaired the RIBA Awards Panel from 2004–6, the only academic to have held this position. In 2013 he co-curated the UK Pavilion at the Shenzhen Biennale with a team from Central Saint Martins, for which they were awarded the Biennale's Academic Committee Prize.
Academic career
Till started his teaching career at what was then Kingston Polytechnic in 1986. He moved to the
Bartlett School of Architecture
Bartlett may refer to:
Places
* Bartlett Bay, Canada, Arctic waterway
* Wharerata, New Zealand, also known as Bartletts
United States
* Bartlett, Illinois
** Bartlett station, a commuter railroad station
* Bartlett, Iowa
* Bartlett, Kansas ...
, University College London in 1990, soon after the appointment of Peter Cook as the School's Head. While at the Bartlett, Till was undergraduate course director, Diploma studio teacher and sub-Dean of the Faculty. In 1999, he was appointed as Head of the School of Architecture and Professor of Architecture at the
University of Sheffield
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
. Under his direction, the School gained a reputation for the social and political basis of its teaching and research. In 2008 he was appointed Dean of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Westminster. He was appointed as Head of
Central Saint Martins
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...
and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the
University of the Arts London in 2012, and held that position until September 2012. He was appointed the University Lead on Climate Emergency in 2018. He is now Professor of Architecture at the University of the Arts London. He has sat on a range of national committees including as a panel member for the 2008
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils (HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British hig ...
and the 2014
Research Excellence Framework
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...
. He was a member of the RIBA Education and Research Committees in the 2000s.
Research and writing
Till's research and writing has concentrated on the social and political aspects of architecture and the built environment. Stephen Moss writes in the Guardian that, "the appeal of Till's thinking is that he starts with people rather than structures, and asks us not to venerate buildings but to occupy them." His best known book is ''Architecture Depends'', which was widely reviewed, and praised by the Times Higher as "a brave, enjoyable, affirming and important book." Other books include ''Flexible Housing'' (written with
Tatjana Schneider) and Spatial Agency (written with Nishat Awan and Tatjana Schneider) All three of these books were awarded the RIBA President's Award for Outstanding University-based research, making Till the only person to have received this international honour three times. In addition to these books, Till has written numerous articles, which are collected together on his own website. From 2010-2013 he ran a large research project on issues of scarcity and creativity in the built environment, funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area). From 2021 he lead, again with Tatjana Schneider, a research project funded by
AHRC and
DFG entitled 'Architecture after Architecture: spatial practice in the face of the climate emergency. For this project, he is part of the research collectiv
MOULDIt has been commented that his privileged Eton and Cambridge background is at odds with his later left-wing political views.
Personal life
Till is the son of the educator and former cleric
Barry Till and the long-term partner of the architect
Sarah Wigglesworth
Sarah Wigglesworth MBE RDI is a British award-winning architect and was a Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield until 2016.
Career
Wigglesworth foundeSarah Wigglesworth Architectsin 1994. Her practice has a reputation for sust ...
, a pair called by the Evening Standard "a glamorous power couple."
His interests are listed in Who's Who as 'growing, cooking and eating food'. He lives in London. He served as a trustee of the
New Economics Foundation
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice".
NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth ...
from 2015-2021.
References
External links
Personal Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Till, Jeremy
1957 births
Living people
People educated at Eton College
20th-century English architects
Alumni of the University of Westminster
Academics of University College London
Alumni of Middlesex University