In the Science, Engineering and Technology Group of KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, of the KU Leuven (Campus Sint-Lucas Brussel en Gent), there is a full-time academic vacancy in the area of architecture design and visual literacy in the section Architecture & Design on the Sint-Lucas Brussels and Ghent campus. The structure of KU Leuven combines faculties and research departments in a multi-campus model.The Faculty of Architecture consists of the academic architecture programmes (interior architecture, architecture, urban design and spatial planning and the educational master) on the Sint-Lucas Brussels and Ghent campuses. The Faculty is responsible for organizing educational activities. It is driven by a consciously assembled diversity of practices and is renowned for its future-oriented education that cultivates a freedom of exploration. There are currently 2400 students, of which ca. 300 are international students. www.arch.kuleuven.be The Department of Architecture is a research department which groups research in the fields of architecture, interior architecture, urbanism and spatial planning of researchers of the Faculty of Architecture (Sint-Lucas Brussels and Ghent campus) as well as of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences (Leuven). The Department is an international centre for expertise in these domains and their research is being led by numerous professors and research groups with around 150 (international) doctoral students. www.architectuur.kuleuven.be
Duties
Research
- Your research contributes to the development of the authenticity and the further strengthening and anchoring of the design-driven, artistic and practice-based research at the Department of Architecture and is based on the development of critical academic innovative learning environments for designing. You contribute to the development of ADRO s (Artistic and Design-related Research Output).
- Your research contributes to knowledge production and expertise through social service or applied-oriented studies, assignments, research projects, spin-offs, etc. and/or through projects focused on fundamental research.
- As a fulltime professor, you explicitly associate your KU Leuven internal productions with the Department of Architecture. External productions of your own practice that you wish to valorise as research output are also explicitly associated with the Department of Architecture, such as prizes, nominations, special realisations and research work in the category ADRO s (Artistic and Design-related Research Output).
- You are involved in, facilitate and encourage design-based PhDs (Design Driven research), either as a supervisor and as a member of the supervisory committee.
Teaching
- You mainly provide education within the studios (Architecture design studios and LAB-O). You have experience with the studio work format as a learning environment. You approach education as a designer for both learning content and learning environment and show yourself to be a future-oriented pedagogue with a clear commitment to the quality of the educational programme as a whole. LAB-O (design laboratory) is a learning environment in the bachelor programme that splits up into three learning sequences: Media, Expression and Positioning.
- The Bachelor curriculum is taught in Dutch.
- You will contribute to the updating and renewal of architectural education with a special interest in project- and practice-based education where, due to a strongly changed educational context, we are faced with the challenge of revising/rethinking the studio as an educational format in a context of greater (cultural) diversity and increasing student numbers.
- You develop your teaching in accordance with KU Leuven s vision on activating and researched-based education and make use of the professional and educational resources offered by the faculty and the university.
- Your didactic responsibilities include running of educational activities in a design-oriented context, as well as providing lectures and seminars. You co-manage the studio teams of teaching assistants and/or visiting professors.
Service
- You are committed to playing a role in academic management and the further consolidation of design as the core (Key Performance Indicator) of the programmes within the Faculty of Architecture.
- In addition, you play an active role in the image and profiling of the Department and Faculty with regard to current and new students and the broad field of architecture (including the cultural sector). This can be done through participation in public performances, information days, introductory moments, etc.
- You maintain a close relationship with the professional field.
Profile
The architectural drawing remains a medium central to the discipline of (Interior) Architecture. We are looking for a candidate with proven expertise, understanding and skills in the field of architectural drawing and drawing architecture. The research and education that the candidate develops is design-driven, inter- and/or transdisciplinary, and relates to artistic, design and/or technological contexts.
We expect the candidate to further investigate the architectural drawing and reveal new (and eventually reformulate existing) insights into:
- its proces of coming into being (genesis)
- its agency as a site for architectural and spatial experiment, an artistic medium, an element of knowledge transfer, a research method, a reflective space, or combination of these
- its complex relationship with the practitioner who performs (or performed) the act of drawing and with the subject that is drawn.
This vacancy strengthens the domain 'Explorative Design' within the Department of Architecture. In the domain 'Explorative Design' there is "a clear focus on architectural design, in the broadest sense in which design as a framework for thinking and action is central and is the main generator of relevant research questions and future scientific challenges. Explorative architecture focuses on developing innovative knowledge related to space and the genesis of spatial conditions."
- You hold a master's degree in (interior) architecture, or an equivalent degree, and a design-driven PhD. Your CV/portfolio shows an active link with drawing productions with artistic qualities and demonstrates this in particular by means of realised ADRO s (Artistic and Design-related Research Output). We especially welcome examples of design learning environments that focus on strengthening design literacy.
- The successful candidate will be able to propose a clear research plan indicating how the candidate's expertise in drawing and draughtsmanship will develop an original and relevant field of research in which drawing practice plays a pivotal role.
- The official administrative language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you are not fluent in Dutch at the start of your employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings.
- Proficiency in Dutch as a teaching language at ERK level C1 is strongly recommended.
- A good knowledge of English is required. KU Leuven offers courses in academic English.
Offer
We offer fulltime employment (100%) in a vibrant and intellectually stimulating design environment.
KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly focused on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and strives for international excellence. In this regard, the university actively works together with research partners in Belgium and abroad and provides its students with an academic education that is based on high-quality practice and scientific research.
As member of the Faculty of Architecture, you will work on the Sint-Lucas Campus both in Brussels and in Ghent. Your main workplace is determined by mutual agreement. The Department of Architecture is active in the locations Brussels, Ghent and Leuven.
Depending on your record and qualifications, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor. In principle, junior researchers are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years; after this period and a positive evaluation, they are permanently appointed (or tenured) as an associate professor.
KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration & administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, & To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a possible starting grant of 110 000 euro can be offered to new professors without substantial other funding, appointed for at least 50%.
Interested?
For more information on the contents of the job, please contact:
- Prof. dr. Rajesh Heynickx, vice chair of the Department of Architecture, mail: rajesh.heynickx@kuleuven.be
- Prof. dr. Yves Schoonjans, dean of the Faculty of Architecture, email: yves.schoonjans@kuleuven.be
- Prof. dr. Thierry Lagrange, head of the research unit Architecture & Design of the Department of Architecture, mail: thierry.lagrange@kuleuven.be
If you encounter any problems when applying online, please contact solliciteren@kuleuven.be.
Add to your application the following documents (more information is available on the KU Leuven job site):
- A biosketch that addresses the three core tasks of the ZAP mission (research, education and service). The biosketch should consist of no more than 2 pages. It should include the following elements:
1) the crucial elements and their importance/impact from your past career
2) the main lines of your future vision and the future activities you plan (with an emphasis on the first 5 years)
3) the added value of your activities for KU Leuven and the collaboration within faculty/department/campus;
- A file on your five most important publications or realizations that demonstrate the focus on your expertise in drawing architecture and the architectural drawing;
- An extensive cv including a full publication list including ADRO s and if applicable a portfolio of your (architectural) projects or other activities relevant for the vacancy (where you may also refer to an appropriate selection on an existing website);
- Your research plan with focus on the development of your research line and research team in relation with the colleague-researchers of the entity of employment (maximum 5 pages);
- Your vision on academic education and its organization (maximum 2 pages);
- Your contribution to society by outreach and public communication on science and technology, internal representation in boards and councils and service activities directly in relation to your developed expertise (maximum 1 page);
- Your vision on leadership (maximum 1 page).
We ask that all documents, with the exception of an extensive CV, be drawn up in English.
KULeuven is committed to creating a diverse environment and is therefore an equalopportunity employer. It explicitly encourages candidates from groups that arecurrently underrepresented at the university to submit their applications.
KU Leuven places great importance on research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.
KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at diversiteit.HR@kuleuven.be.