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Dr Leon Crascall
Course Leader and Senior Lecturer in Architecture
- Phone
- +44 (0)1473 338669
- l.crascall@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- School of Technology, Business and Arts, Research Directorate
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Leon is a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for Architecture. Since coming into academia in 2015 he has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, where he spent 3 years, joining us from Norwich University of the Arts in 2022. He has grown up locally and worked on a range of projects across East Anglia, he brings his knowledge of the diverse communities and landscape that Suffolk offers and fusing it with a global outlook.
With over 30 years experience working in the construction industry and architectural education, Leon's own career and education has been an unorthodox journey of lifelong learning. From no school qualifications of any merit, through to trade and technical qualifications in his 20's; studying Architectural Technology at degree level in his 30's; to successfully completing his Professional Doctorate at Anglia Ruskin University in 2021 in his 40's, he is a career learner empathetic to the challenges students face in developing themselves.
His teaching covers Design Studio, Technology and environment, personal and professional development, and dissertation supervision. Leon is particularly interested in challenging what sustainability means with students, that architectural and arts education plays a central role in questioning the attitudes and values of stakeholders influencing the built environment now and in the future.
Teaches on the BA (Hons) Architecture course.
Leon's research interests mainly lie in built environment education, particularly pedagogic research and the relationship between educational theory and practice. He is interested in exploring alternative methodologies and applying them in novel ways, feels it is important for delivering research that addresses real-world problems and engages people. His doctoral research fused together design science research and auto ethnography, creatively exploring a range of socio-technical artefacts influencing built environment education through his own experiences of it. As an early career researcher Leon continues to develop his research profile, attending professional and academic conferences to inform his teaching and research practices.
Recent Publications
Crascall, L. (2023). Developing Student Awareness of Global Sustainability Through the UN SDG Framework and Koppen Climate Zones: An educator’s Reflections. In: Rubbo, A., Du, J., Thomsen, M.R., Tamke, M. (eds) Design for Resilient Communities. UIA 2023. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36640-6_59
Crascall, L and Sherratt, F. (2024). Doing Autoethnography: A Built Environment Education Case Study. In Oswald, D., & olde Scholtenhuis, L. (Eds.). (2024). Embracing Ethnography: Doing Contextualised Construction Research (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003379584
As someone who has largely operated in the construction industry and maintains relationships with local businesses and partners outside of academia, Leon is always keen to explore opportunities that benefits student employability and builds social capital.
As of September 2023, he is a board member of Active House UK.
Leon continues to develop networks internationally, primarily through the relationship with our research institutes and their central themes and through our global networks with other academic institutions relating architectural education.
Leon is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the British Educational Research Association (BERA).