Prof Gareth Williams

I am particularly interested in how emerging design practices can be incubated in higher education settings and have impact in broader society, for example, how they can be agents of cultural diplomacy and how they are received and represented by cultural arbiters such as museums. 

I am the chair of the Gabo Trust for Sculpture Conservation (https://www.gabotrust.org), a small specialist charity that supports and promotes the conservation of modern and contemporary sculpture through grants awarded to independent conservators and public sculpture collections internationally.

I teach on MA Interior Architecture and Design, offering tutorial support to students on the modules IAD4010 ‘Explore: Scale and Place’, IAD4011 ‘Encounter: Contexts and Debates’, IAD4020 ‘Develop: Personal Practice’ and IAD4030 ‘Realise: Independent Research and Design’. I am also currently Director of Studies for one research student, Mamiko Markham for her thesis ‘Reinventing Commerce, Redefining Role: Katagami Transcultural Significance in Japonisme via the Silver Studio Collection’.

Previous research student supervision includes Gwen Fereday, ‘Synaesthetic colour responses to text: an investigation through fine art textiles’ (2019, Director of Studies); David Fern, ‘The Interior, the Experiencer, Kokoro: towards the essence of place’, (2019, supervisor); and Lara Furniss, ‘Universal Eyes: Defying Classification: a study exploring the processes of 21st Century design studios’ (Birmingham City University, 2019, second supervisor).