Laura Mark

School of Architecture

Architecture Studio Tutor

Profile picture of Laura Mark
Profile picture of Profile picture of Laura Mark
l.mark@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Laura Mark
School of Architecture
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile

I have been co-lead for the first year undergraduate course since I started teaching at Sheffield School of Architecture in 2021. 

Prior to this I taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University of Greenwich and the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design. I also regularly run a unit at the annual summer programme – Studio in the Woods. At the beginning of lockdown, I launched a series of events titled the Virtual Unit, designed to support students who were now completing their studies at home.   

I have been a guest critic at numerous schools of architecture including Sweden’s UMEA University, UCLAN, Reading School of Architecture, Bartlett School of Architecture, Central St Martins, and the Royal College of Art.    

Trained as an architect, I worked in practice before joining the Architects’ Journal. During my time at the magazine, I won numerous awards for my work including IBP’s Multi-Media Journalist of the Year in both 2015 and 2016. I now write freelance for a number of publications including RIBA Journal, Dezeen, Icon, The Developer and the Architectural Review. I have also edited books and website texts for practices including Robin Lee Architecture, Feilden Fowles, Gort Scott and ZCD Architects. 

After leaving the AJ, I launched the architecture awards at the Royal Academy of Arts where I also curated a number of exhibitions and events as part of the institution’s public programme. I am now the Keeper of Walmer Yard, where I curate a number of cultural projects which look at how we experience architecture.  

I have also directed a number of films including the documentary Zaha: An Architecture Legacy (2017) which has been shown at festivals in London, Milan, New York and Miami. I am currently working on a new series of films entitled Practice, which follow the studio culture of architects from Piers Taylor and Sam Jacob to Mary Duggan and O’Donnell and Tuomey. The first episode, which was released in February 2020, has been shown at the Dezeen Virtual Design Festival, Palm Springs Architecture, Design, and Art Film Festival and New York Architecture Design Film Festival. 

I am currently undertaking a PhD at Newcastle University which looks at our experience of domestic spaces and the museumification of the home through an autoethnographic study of Walmer Yard. 

Qualifications
  • BA (Hons) Architecture
  • Professional Diploma in Architecture with Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies
  • PG Cert in Research Methods
Research interests
  • Feminism and architecture
  • Domesticity
  • Phenomenology and the home
  • Experiencing architecture
Teaching interests
  • Architectural pedagogy
  • Making in studio
  • Studio culture
Teaching activities

I am currently a studio design tutor and co-lead for year one.