Draft:Stephen Gage
Stephen Gage is a British architect, researcher and academic, best known for his work on interactive and performance architecture, building technology and dynamic façades. He is Emeritus Professor at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL), where he has led the Bartlett Interactive Architecture Workshop (BIAW) and held senior roles including Director of Technology and and Director of Architectural Design. His research spans interactive environments, dynamic building envelopes, low-energy strategies and the design of architectures that incorporate sensing and actuation.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Gage grew up in London and studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, where he was greatly influenced at the AA by the work of Cedric Price and Gordon Pask. On graduating, he worked with a UK Government research group where he generated the first national design guides for Fire and Police stations.[3] He taught at Bournemouth College of Art during this period, and worked with Price associate Stephen Mullin, before moving to the US, where he worked in a design practices in California. In 1973 he joined the Douglas Stephen Partnership where he led the design team for a number of published buildings, mostly in the medical field.[1]
Academic career
[edit]The Bartlett, UCL
[edit]Gage has been associated with The Bartlett School of Architecture since the early 1990s.[1] At The Bartlett he has held roles including Director of Technology and Director of Architectural Design.[4] He established the Bartlett Interactive Architecture Workshop (BIAW) in the mid-1990s to explore interactive technologies as both subjects of investigation and tools for architectural innovation.[2] The Bartlett Interactive Architecture Workshop has been the incubator for a substantial number of architecture and design practices and academics, including Usman Haque, Jason Bruges Studio, Kreider + O'Leary, Paul Bavister and academic programmes, such as the Bartlett's MA Design for Performance Interaction.
Research and projects
[edit]Gage’s work has been disseminated through UCL outputs, conference papers and collaborations. He has acted as principal investigator and co-investigator on funded projects exploring dynamic façades, deployable insulation systems and interactive devices embedded in architectural settings. His publications and case studies discuss both practical prototypes and theoretical frameworks for what has been termed "interactive architecture" or "intelligent architecture".[3]
Research interests and contributions
[edit]Key themes in Gage’s research and practice include:
- Interactive/Intelligent Architecture – exploring environments that sense, compute and actuate to create responsive spatial behaviour. Gage helped found and lead the BIAW, a lab combining design, electronics and mechanical systems to prototype interactive architectural elements.[2]
- Dynamic building envelopes and passive/active environmental systems – including work on deployable external insulation and façade systems that change state in response to environmental conditions.[3]
- Design of "trivial machines" and tangible devices – reflective and experimental work on small mechanical systems used as design probes to explore performativity and delight in architecture.[3]
Selected projects and initiatives
[edit]- Bartlett Interactive Architecture Workshop – founded and led by Gage to investigate interactive technologies in architecture.[2]
- Research into dynamic façades and deployable insulation – collaborative projects addressing passive and active façade behaviour and materials/actuation systems.[3]
Selected publications
[edit]- Gage, S. The Wonder of Trivial Machines. (Discussion paper on trivial machines as design metaphors and devices).[3]
- Leung, C. & Gage, S. Dynamic Building Envelopes: Deployable External Insulation Systems. (Research publication on facade systems).[3]
- Gage, S. (2004). Top down ventilation and cooling in urban areas. In: Bartlett Works: Architecture Building Projects. UCL Discovery.[5]
Teaching
[edit]Gage has taught undergraduate and postgraduate students at The Bartlett across design studios, technology modules and history/theory topics related to interactive environments. He has supervised masters and doctoral students working on architecture, computation and environmental design.[1]
Recognition and impact
[edit]Gage is recognised as a central figure in establishing interactive architectural research and its translation into practice and teaching at The Bartlett. Institutional case studies highlight his leadership in enabling innovations that engaged both industry and public audiences.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Professor Stephen Gage". University College London. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Bartlett Interactive Architecture Workshop". The Bartlett, UCL. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Stephen Gage". ResearchGate. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ a b "Interactive architectural innovation in practice, products and pedagogy – REF2014 Impact Case Study". UK Research and Innovation. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ "Top down ventilation and cooling in urban areas". UCL Discovery. Retrieved 4 November 2025.