Dr. David Reat is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Strathclyde. He is the Director of Cultural Studies in the Department of Architecture, coordinating and delivering the Cultural Studies curriculum across the BSc(Hons) in Architectural Studies, MArch in Advanced Architectural Design and MArch in Architectural Design (International) programmes. David is guest professor and critic at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and guest lecturer for the Manchester School of Architecture. David was an External Examiner to UMA School of Architecture in Umea and continues to serve as a guest critic of the School. He was also a seminar leader of the History and Theory Course at the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL and second co-ordinator with the (ALFA) ADU 2020 project.
Dr. Reat has recently completed his PhD thesis which examined the architectural representations of cities in science fiction films from 1965 to 2023. His analysis centred on their visual depictions and connections to historical developments such as nuclearisation, globalisation and digitisation. David’s thesis demonstrates that the advent of new technologies such as computer-generated images and AI has caused a retrograde disengagement between architecture and its representation in contemporary science fiction films. As a result, the social value of such films has been severely compromised. David argues that the challenge facing the next generation of architects, production designers and society at large has become critical.
Architecture Student Voice and A131 are delighted to present David’s Week 6 guest lecture titled ‘A Critical Divergence’ which will explore the research undertaken during his PhD study.