Staff Profile

Samuel is lecturer, researcher, design collaborator and Associate Editor of arq: Architectural Research Quarterly (published by Cambridge University Press). He completed his doctoral thesis ‘Travels in Lounge Space: Placing the Contemporary British Motorway Service Area' at Cardiff University in 2012. Past experience includes practice at Mecanoo Architecten, Delft and at the Design Research Unit, Wales, and tutoring at The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University.

Qualifications

BSc (Hons), BArch (Dist.), PhD.   

My research explores relations between architecture, culture and infrastructure, with a particular interest in everyday and commercial spaces, such as motorway service areas, shopping malls and cafés. I look at how the architecture of these environments creates particular experiences, how they affect us and what they say about contemporary life.

I am Lecturer in Architecture and have been Programme Director of both BA (Hons) Architecture and Master of Architecture. I contribute to lectures across history/theory modules, tutor dissertations in BA and MArch, tutor design projects and have co-led the  'Border Territories' and ‘Intoxicated Spaces’ design studios in MArch.

• Articles

  • Austin S, Sharr A. The University of Nonstop Society: Campus Planning, Lounge Space, and Incessant Productivity. Architecture and Culture 2021, 9(1), 69-97.
  • Austin SW. Themes in the Architecture of the Cave. MADE 2005, 2, 80-91.

• Book Chapters

  • Austin S, Sharr A. "The Collective": Luxury in Lounge Space. In: Roberts J; Armitage J, ed. The Third Realm of Luxury: Connecting Real Places and Imaginary Spaces. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019, pp.121-142.
  • Austin SW. Lounge space: the home, the city and the service area. In: Sharr, A, ed. Reading Architecture and Culture: Researching Buildings, Spaces and Documents. London: Routledge, 2012, pp.106-120.