Research Assessment: a flawed exercise. Stirling's work: variable and vainglorious. Undermining the profession

The demise of architecture schools in the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)will have caught the attention of every architect working in one of the UK's research-led universities (arq5/4, p 291 ). The debate about architectural theory, its definition and application into practice is complex, diverse and sometimes contentious. Within universities where research success is at the heart of their culture, architectural ‘research’ does not necessarily follow conventional protocols or manifest itself in the refereed journals ubiquitous in other disciplines. But should it be any less valued because its output does not conventionally fall into one of those standardized categories?