Sayan Skandarajah
Areas of interest
The Architectural Drawing
Drawing-led Research
Imagination, Story-telling and Allegorical Design
The Representation of the City
Teaching
Convenorship:
Co-lead of BSc Architecture Year 2
AA2DS4 – Architecture Design: Skills in Architectural Design 2 (UG Year 2)
AA3RXM – Reflective and Explorative Making in Architecture (UG Year 3)
Contributing to:
AA2DS3 – Architecture Design: Skills in Architectural Design 1 (UG Year 2)
AA3HTA - History and Theory of Architecture: Critical Writing (UG Year 3)
AA1VCI – Visualisation and Communication (UG Year 1)
AA2VCC – Visualisation and Communication – Digital media (UG Year 2)
Research centres and groups
Research projects
Cartographies of the Imagination
Background
I am an architectural academic specialising in drawing-led research. My role within the School of Architecture at Reading involves co-running 2nd year design studio in the undergraduate program, as well as teaching a range of modules that deal with visual communication and experimental model making. Alongside my teaching, my own reflective design practice feeds into research investigating non-western representations of the city and the use of parallel projection as drawing convention. Alongside Kirsty Badenoch I am co-curator of the Cartographies of the Imagination project, an ongoing exploration into map-making, drawing and the mind’s eye. My research has been funded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership, and The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
Academic qualifications
PhD Candidate in Architecture - UCL, Bartlett School of Architecture
MArch Architectural Design, RIBA part II – UCL, Bartlett School of Architecture, 2014
MA Architecture, RIBA part I –University of Edinburgh, 2012
Websites/blogs
Instagram: @cartographiesoftheimagination
Selected publications
Skandarajah, S. and Badenoch, K. (eds.) Cartographies of the Imagination. Cartographies of the Imagination, London. ISBN 9781527283862, (2021)
Sayan Skandarajah (2019) “Into the Clouds of Rakuchu Rakugai Zu: Eastern< >Western Drawing Tolerance Critiqued through Speculative Drawing Practices”, Architecture and Culture, 7:1, 129-147, DOI: 10.1080/20507828.2019.1558771
Sayan Skandarajah (2019) “Imaginal Cloud Spaces”, Drawing Matter,
https://drawingmatter.org/imaginal-cloud-spaces/