Owain Caruana-Davies BA MA PGCertHE FHEA PhD candidate

Owain Caruana-Davies (he/him) (BA (Hons), MA, PGCertHE, FHEA) is a multidisciplinary designer, artist and educator whose work has been displayed internationally. He is the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Interior Design Environment Architectures (IDEAs) course at Ravensbourne University London.

Owain is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, completing a PGCertHE at Regent’s University London where he was a lecturer and year one leader on the BA (Hons) Interior Design course for five years. Previous experience includes acting course leader for Foundation Fashion and Design at Regent’s, establishing and running a short course for international students at University of the Arts London (UAL) and leading an MA studio at Canterbury School of Architecture, University for the Creative Arts (UCA) from 2017-2021. He was an associate lecturer on the MA Interior Design course at the Royal College of Art until 2023.

His teaching is linked to previous experience as a student welfare mentor, recognising the importance of mental health awareness within higher education, and, as a queer academic, has an interest in inclusive design education. His practice crosses art and architecture, completing an MA at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL, receiving a distinction and the ‘Deans Award’.

Owain is a PhD candidate on the research programme at CCW, UAL. His research is in spatial practice, focusing on obsolescent buildings and the process of demolition/renewal, impacting on human-spatial relationships and ideas surrounding situated identity and sustainability. Owain’s work responds to existing spaces through hybrid drawing, found objects, film and photography. Human Spatial is a research platform that Owain founded in 2020 to cumulate different research interests surrounding human connections to space and place. Research interests include: interior design, architecture and spatial design, spatial practice, fine art, interior futures, reuse, obsolescence, thinking through drawing/making, design representation, site-specific intervention, creative pedagogy and human spatial relationships.

Owain's awareness of the pressures of being a student are reflected in a keen understanding of the importance of mental health awareness within academic institutions. He volunteered as a student welfare mentor within higher education and has training in mental health first aid. Owain is involved with LGBTQ+ networks supporting equality and diversity, spanning beyond academic institutions addressing areas of inequality. Owain has a keen interest in opportunities for all into higher education, challenging long-held structures within the academic field that have historically precluded groups from such opportunities.

Further to Owain's role at Ravensbourne University London and PhD research, he engages in independent design consultancy, competition work, often with collaborative international teams, as well as exhibiting work globally. Owain has a passion for all creative disciplines and engages on a multi-disciplinary level with other specialists in their respective fields.