Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Sarah Mills
Head of Subject
Sarah Mills is an architect and Head of Leeds School of Architecture.
Sarah studied architecture at the Architectural Association, London (AA Dipl), completed the Professional Practice in Architecture at The Bartlett, UCL and has taught architectural design in Architecture schools in London, Sheffield and Leeds. She is currently External Examiner for the Master of Architecture course at Huddersfield University (2019-2023), and Professional Examiner for the Professional Practice, RIBA Part 3 exams at The Bartlett (2019-20). She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of SCHOSA. Prior to being appointed Head of Subject for Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design courses in 2018, she was Postgraduate Course Director in Architecture. Sarah has co-led the MArch design research unit ‘Cinematic Commons’ since 2013, engaging in international collaborations, exhibitions and research workshops (Mumbai, Mexico City, Tokyo, Marseille, London). She has worked at several architecture practices on projects in the UK, Germany and Qatar.
Current Teaching
- BA(Hons) Architecture
- Master of Architecture
Research Interests
Sarah’s current research investigates infrastitial scenes in contested public spaces and possibilities for shared, negotiated 'commons' across global urban contexts. The research process is interdisciplinary and collaborative, involving direct urban analyses through experiments in immersive technologies including film making, and set installations. The critical research outcomes, creative projects and international public events of workshops, symposiums and exhibitions open up new ways of designing in the city, alternative architectural processes and the creation of genuinely participatory urban spaces. As a result of the international symposium ‘Scene and Sequence: On Cinematic Urbanisms’ which she jointly organised in February 2018, a book proposal, and in parallel a research website project, have been put forward, engaging critical voices from a range of cultural contexts in Mumbai, Mexico City, Tokyo and London.
