Staff Profiles

-Teaching interests

Live projects and learning through making.

Design and build projects.

Interdisciplinary practice and community engagement. 

 

 

Modules taught

Co-Module leader for ARCH5002-3 Architectural Design 1

 

Dissertation supervisor ARCH6008

 

Research interests:

Architecture and community development; people-centred approach to architectural and urban solutions.

The role of architectural and urban design as a tool in development.

Bamboo as a material that can be the key driver for regeneration processess in underpriviledged areas.

Participatory design and co-design methodologies.

Process-based low-cost architectural solutions with an aim to obtain sustainable development.

 

Pedagogic research interest:

The link between architecture and social innovation through live projects, interdisciplinary practice and community engagement. 

 

 

Journal articles

• Cuenca R, Canet J, Gómez E, 'Architectural Schools should be at the forefront of Social Innovation'
  Charrette 5 (2) (2019) pp.66-82
  ISSN: 2054-6718
  Abstract

  Since the early 1990s, Social Innovation (SI) has developed as a field of research, with advancements being applied to management, entrepreneurship and policy-making. In exploring SI processes, we realize that aspects of them have much in common with the architectural design process, but there is little awareness of these processes in architectural practice or in architectural schools. One of the weaknesses of architects as a result of their training is a lack of skills and tools to manage effectively the social aspects of their projects. Architectural education typically focuses on the final product as a built form or a spatial design. This essay analyses the potential role of SI in user-centred architectural projects through a case study of the workshop “From Territory to Detail”, which was realised in rural Colombia. The workshop was aligned with Live Project’s educational model, which emphasises the importance of the social aspects of a project. The aim of the essay is to identify theories and models which will be of mutual benefit to architecture and SI, and to suggest a way forward for SI processes to be incorporated within architectural schools.
  

  Website 

Book chapters

• Canet J, Cuenca R, Gómez E, 'Produ-Activa; Socio-productive Cycles for the Improvement of the Habitat' in Ana Esteban Maluenda, Vicente Esteban Medina, Laura Sánchez Carrasco, Antonio Martín Soria (ed.), Ibero-american routes: Exchange paths in the twentieth century architecture, Mairea Libros (2017)
  ISBN: 9788494683107
  

Conference papers

• Cuenca R, Canet J, Gómez E, 'The City as a Learning Platform'
  (2017) pp.518-521
  ISBN: 9780992929978
  Website 
• Cuenca R, Canet J, Gómez E, 'Immersive learning experiences. The case of Bamboo Think Tank in rural Colombia.'
  (2017) pp.375-383
  ISBN: 9780992929978
  Abstract

  Using the workshop “Bamboo Think Tank; from Territory to Detail” as a tool, this paper examines the pedagogical value of immersive Live Projects in design education. The distinctive innovative characteristics of this workshop are the varied group of students working together coming from different international backgrounds with different levels of skills and resources; the organisers being a platform formed by professionals, academics and local community members with an interest in bamboo; and the focus on bamboo considered not just as a material but as a tool to empower all participants involved.

  Website 

Other publications

• Jane Anderson, Ruth Cuenca, Tutors and students in Year 1, School of Architecture: OB1 LIVE., 'Performance Pieces and Places'
  Live project with Year 1 students in the School of Architecture (OB1 LIVE) to design and install "Pop-up" Performance Pieces to support an open mic performance night at Harcourt Hill Campus. This was followed by a speculative project to make proposals for a new Theatre Foyer at Harcourt Hill to stimulate performance activity now and in the future as the campus redevelopment takes place over the next ten years. (2017) Abstract https://www.brookes.ac.uk/architecture/live-projects/
• Cuenca R, Canet J, Gómez E, 'Bamboo Think Tank. From Territory to Detail'
  (2017)

• Book Chapters:

Cuenca, R., Canet, J., Gómez, E., 2012. ‘Post-disaster regeneration of San Cristobal; the potential of bamboo’, in Vinagre, I. (ed) Emergency Interventions, OPPTA Competition. Nimar Ediciones, pp 56-68. ISBN 978-84-695-3967-5.

• Conference Papers:

Cuenca, R. 2016. ‘Implementing Live Projects in Architectural Education; benefits and barriers’. In Inquiry and Reflection in Higher Education. PGCTHE. Oxford Brookes University. June 22 2016

Cuenca, R., Canet, J., Gómez, E., 2014. ‘Habitability improvements through the implementation of the socio-productive cycle of bamboo-guadua’. In Arcadia III Conference: Transversal Actions in Cooperation and Development, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Nov 6-7 2014. Proceedings pp 157-166.

Canet, J., Cuenca, R., Gómez, E., Hernandez, C. 2014. ‘Palomino society under construction, proposal for a vocational School’ in Arcadia III (above). Proceedings pp 512-521.

Canet, J., Cuenca, R., Gómez, E. 2013. ‘The city-territory in the Guajira Department through productive rural housing as an alternative model to the extensive growth of cities. Three possible models of masterplan development in a rural area’. In Housing, Cities and Territory in Latin America Conference. Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Colombia. Nov, 13-15 2013

• Conference Posters:

Cuenca, R., Canet, J., Gómez, E., 2017. ‘First international workshop: From Territory to Detail. Development of eco-social projects in the coffee region, Colombia’. In IV Symposium of Research applied to Cooperation and Development. Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. Oct, 24 2017.

Cuenca, R. 2016., ‘Implementing Live Projects for Year 1 students of Architectural Design at Westminster University’, London 2015-16. In Inquiry and Reflection in Higher Education Conference. Oxford Brookes University. March 16 2016.

Gómez, E., Cuenca, R., Canet, J., Hernández, C., 2014. ‘Palomino society under construction’. In Arcadia III Conference: Transversal Actions in Cooperation and Development, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Nov 6-7 2014

Areas of expertise

Postgraduate certificate in Architecture for Development and Dissaster Relief (ETSAM- Madrid)

Senior Architect in practice with extensive experience working for large and small architectural practices in London and Spain in a wide range of projects and sectors 

Co-founder of Nimba Studio

Membership of professional bodies

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

COAM (Spanish Board of Architects) Registered Architect in Spain 

ARB Registered Architect

Conferences

Co-organizer of Architecture Connects, 4th international peer reviewed conference of the Association of Architectural Educators, Oxford Brookes University 6-9 September 2017. Chaired by Jane Anderson. 

Other experience

Other teaching experience: 

- University College London

- University of Westminster, London

- UAL- Central Saint Martins, London

- University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury

- Greenwich University - School of Architecture, London

- University of Nottingham, (Jouberton Nursery School Project in South Africa- Live Build - 2009) 

* Guest critic for various institutions: London Metropolitan, Welsh School of Architecture, Bartlett School of Architecture, Architectural Association. 

Further information

Ruth is a founding partner of Nimba Studio; research-led practice specialized in strategic and sustainable projects supporting communities using the local environmental resources to design productive cycles involving social, economic and environmental factors. Early projects focused on the study of bamboo as the key driver for regeneration strategies in areas of Colombia where this is an autochthonous material. Another area of expertise is interior design specialising in learning spaces and collaborative working environments with built projects in Spain. 

http://nimbastudio.com/