By staying connected to architecture students and universities, TURNER associate director Theo Krallis is shaping not only the next generation of designers, but also the quality and clarity of his own practice. 

With a career spanning community, commercial and residential projects, Krallis has found that some of the most valuable design insights emerge in the classrooms of architectural education, where he’s spent several years teaching and critiquing at UNSW. 

Students gain clear benefits from interacting with design professionals in the classroom – and this is a two-way street for architects in their own practices. 

Below, Krallis shares the top three ways he believes tapping into academia can enhance the design culture in your studio. 

TURNER associate director Theo Krallis says teaching can improve the quality and clarity of his own architectural practice. Photo: supplied

1. Stay in tune with emerging ideas 

Regularly engaging with students, and the freedom of ideas that academic environments offer, acts as a creative reset. It reconnects you to the ‘why’ of design. 

While architectural studios are busy managing clients, programs, budgets and consultants, universities are exploring design for design’s sake. Engaging with a more conceptual pace can offer fresh energy for your own projects. 

Being an active guest critic is an opportunity to connect with ideas you may not have thought about for years. That connection to emerging thought, global trends and speculative design thinking helps keep a studio current. Students are often very in tune with cultural issues and changes. Tapping into that through teaching or crits is one way architects and designers can stay connected and apply their new knowledge to the benefit of their professional work. 

2. Bring the crit room into the studio 

One of the most tangible ways to translate a university teaching experience into practice is through regular studio-wide design presentations where teams share work in progress and receive open feedback. 

The best thing about university is that everyone sits in on crits. There’s cross-pollination, not just between jurors and students, but among students themselves. At TURNER, we’ve tried to bring that same environment and design energy into the studio. 

These internal reviews allow junior and senior staff alike to see what others are working on, learn from different approaches, and build confidence in presenting and critiquing design. More importantly, they create space to pause and reflect on whether a design idea is still intact, something that’s vital when deadlines start to challenge creative decision-making. 

3. Use ideas to engage clients 

There’s a connection between the clarity of student presentations and how architects communicate with clients. Students talk about their projects through the lens of a core idea and how it’s carried through the design. That’s a cue we can take into practice.

Rather than relying solely on planning controls or compliance language to justify a design direction, architects can return to the strength of the concept to bring clients on board. It’s easy to default to what’s allowed under the code, but clients connect better when they understand the design idea. Often, that’s what sold them on the project in the first place. 

Final thoughts 

While not everyone can dedicate time to teaching, I’d encourage architects to engage with academia however they can, whether it’s tutoring, guest crits or simply attending student exhibitions. 

It’s continuing education, not just about materials and codes, but about design itself. It keeps you open, reflective and connected to why we do this work in the first place.

Are you an interior designer interested in embarking on a teaching career? Read ADR‘s feature answering all your questions here.