. . .

there was one month back in 2003 when sarah ichioka and i shared a house on bethnal green road, 155 bethnal green road. i was desperate to study again, increasingly anxious that i was making intuitive rather than informed and critical decisions in my practice and in my role as a board member on various organisations. i was desperate for literature. sarah encouraged me to apply to the lse cities programme. thanks be to her.

i did apply, however the letter of acceptance never arrived, which i suspect was due to our 'singing and somewhat mad' postman at the time. one week before class was to start i received an email from the ever wonderful dominic church requesting to know as a matter of urgency if i was going to accept the place and moreover the scholarship that i had been offered from the lse itself. i spent the day at the computer, reading and re-reading the screen. i had, just a month or two before started a new position and i didnt imagine they would want me to work part-time nor did i imagine i could request the award be used for part-time studies. in the end everyone was immensely helpful; the award was still granted and i negotiated with my chairman at work that i would do my studies over three years, thus working at least 33 hours per week in term time and 40+ in term break. i started the msc. city design and social science in september 2004 and will, inshallah, complete the programme in september 2007.

i am the only student who has studied under both 'regimes' that of prof ricky burdett and now under prof. robert tavernor. it is both 'burden and blessing' having seen and experienced two very thoughtful directors with two very different positions on the teaching and the wider role of the programme. having said that, the programme is much more the sum of parts, including the star studded teaching staff and the moreover the advisory panel. the programme also includes the cities consultancy along with the urban age project and tangentially this years' la biennale di venezia.

having started my final year i have been fortunate to have met three years of some remarkable, thoughtful and desperately talented fellow students. i am worried i will find it difficult to not stop my bike from riding to the lse on tuesdays/wednesdays as i have done for the past years.

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