Far from sitting in an academic ivory tower, Liverpool School of Architecture is at the centre the city’s change, reports Peter Elson

WITH staff from countries ranging from Colombia to Germany and West Africa, it is no surprise to learn that Liverpool University’s School of Architecture is led by Prof Robert Kronenburg.

It completes the picture of a world within one department.

However, in spite of this very Continental name, Prof Kronenburg has come all the way to the School’s Abercromby Square base from that heart of darkness we know as the Dingle.

Well, not quite directly. He’s also studied and worked at Liverpool Poly, Manchester University, the US, Malaysia and Japan.

On his return to his hometown, he joined the School and became the chair of architecture three years ago.

But this crucial international dimension to his career has fed a desire to take architectural studies out from academia and into the public forum of debate.

Latest in a series of public lectures and conventions was the Magical Mysterious Regeneration Tour over the weekend, a conference about artists, architecture and the future of Liverpool.

Guest speakers included architect Will Alsop (back after the rejection of his Cloud or "Fourth Grace" design), commentator Jonathan Meades and Prof Phil Redmond.

"I regard architecture as the quintessential design profession. You are linking science with art. In Liverpool, the university has a big involvement with the city."

Liverpool School of Architecture, founded in 1895, was the first to have Royal Institute of Architects accredited courses and has six gold medallion holders.

"In a place which has such a powerful image, it is important that the School of Architecture has a duty and responsibility to be involved in the city.

"I’ve worked hard over the last three years to engage with the city and put things on for the people who live here.

"However, it’s more than just about Liverpool, we try to make our events international.

"The aim is to go out and around the world to link up with other architectural schools, as we don’t want to become parochial. It’s vital that there is a dialogue with ideas flowing each way.

"Liverpool has a had a history that reached all over the world, and I feel we’re doing our bit to continue that communication.

"We’re proud to be in Liverpool, and to be a school that is an international institution.

"What is happening now across Liverpool is very interesting, and there are lessons to be learned. We should discuss these circumstances across the world.

"Whatever its detractors say, the title of European Capital of Culture for this year has been a catalytic event.

"We’re known as being great for football and music; now we’re known as a great urban centre that is packed with other things."

The city has a very dominating architectural identity, stemming partly from specific buildings, such as the Three Graces, the two cathedrals, and St George’s Hall, he concedes. "These are primarily from the 19th and early 20th centuries, but there is also the urban form of the city with its wonderful, sloping site next to the river and views across to the Welsh mountains," he says.

There have been benefits from the lack of investment from the late 1970s, as fewer areas were blighted by clearance for redevelopment.

"Unfortunately, we’ve still lost some great buildings, but there are enough left for a sense of what our city should be like," he says.

"Now we’re getting rapid redevelopment, as if to make up lost time, which sadly is not all good.

"What is being done is being done with a sense of urban identity, although, again, that is not the case everywhere in the city."

Three key individual projects stand out in the city which command national, if not international, interest: The Echo Arena Liverpool; the rebuilt Bluecoat Arts Centre; and the new Museum of Liverpool.