Max Cooper-Clark is an artist, researcher, and writer from the North East of England exploring the intersections of art, architecture, ecology and extractivism.
He is the Head of Research and Design at the Turner-Prize-nominated collective Cooking Sections and teaches in the Department of Spatial Practices at Central Saint Martins.
He is the Head of Research and Design at the Turner-Prize-nominated collective Cooking Sections and teaches in the Department of Spatial Practices at Central Saint Martins.
Education
MA — Royal College of Art (Architecture)
2022-2024
Dean’s Prize
MA (Cantab) — University of Cambridge (Architecture, Pembroke College)
2017-2020
First Class with Distinction
MA — Royal College of Art (Architecture)
2022-2024
Dean’s Prize
MA (Cantab) — University of Cambridge (Architecture, Pembroke College)
2017-2020
First Class with Distinction
Experience
Head of Research and Design — Cooking Sections
2024 - Present
Co-Investigator - Abyssal Edges - ETH Zürich
Architectural Assistant — David Chipperfield Architects
2020 - 2022
Head of Research and Design — Cooking Sections
2024 - Present
Co-Investigator - Abyssal Edges - ETH Zürich
2024 - Present
With Margarida Waco (Principal Investigator)
and Gloria Pavita (Co-Investigator)
With Margarida Waco (Principal Investigator)
and Gloria Pavita (Co-Investigator)
Architectural Assistant — David Chipperfield Architects
2020 - 2022
Publications and Lectures
2026
Pits and Pansies: Drawing as Social Geology - Drawing Research Forum - Drawing Room - February 2026
2025
Pits and Pansies: Entanglements of a flower across personal, contaminated, and flourishing geologies - Staying with the Trouble - Feral Worlding, Issue 01 - November 2025
Pits and Pansies: Metabolisms of resistance in the North East of England lead mines - Landscape Research - September 2025
Pits and Pansies - Architecture Beyond Extraction - Journal of Architectural Education Issue 79.1 - February 2025
2023
Title, Margarida N. Waco - Fertile Futures Volume I, Ed. Andreia Garcia Ana Neiva Diogo Aguiar - Architectural Affairs - 2023
Pits and Pansies: Drawing as Social Geology - Drawing Research Forum - Drawing Room - February 2026
2025
Pits and Pansies: Entanglements of a flower across personal, contaminated, and flourishing geologies - Staying with the Trouble - Feral Worlding, Issue 01 - November 2025
Pits and Pansies: Metabolisms of resistance in the North East of England lead mines - Landscape Research - September 2025
Pits and Pansies - Architecture Beyond Extraction - Journal of Architectural Education Issue 79.1 - February 2025
2023
Title, Margarida N. Waco - Fertile Futures Volume I, Ed. Andreia Garcia Ana Neiva Diogo Aguiar - Architectural Affairs - 2023
Awards and Scholarships
RIBA Silver Medal - Nomination - Royal Institute of British Architect - December 2024
Dean’s Prize - For the most oustanding graduate in the Faculty of Architecture - Adrian Lahoud / Royal College of Art School of Architecture - July 2024
2023
Drawing Prize, 2024 - Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham - June 2023
Third Winner, Best Architecture Drawing, 2023 - RIBAJ Eyeline Drawing Prize - Royal Institute of British Architects - June 2023
Re-imagining Cumbernauld Town Centre - Competition Winner - RIAS and Glasgow Institute of Architects - Summer 2023
2020
Cadell Prize - For best performance in History of Art of Architecture - University of Cambridge
Edward S. Prior Prize - For best understanding of materials and construction - University of Cambridge
Peter de Somogyi Memorial Prize - For most distinguished performance in an Arts subject - University of Cambridge
2019
Cambridge Association of Architects Student Prize - For the highest overall and portfolio mark in Architecture- University of Cambridge
Peter de Somogyi Memorial Prize - For most distinguished performance in an Arts subject - University of Cambridge
Foundation Scholarship - For excellent academic achievement - University of Cambridge
Foundress Prize - For excellent academic achievement - University of Cambridge
2018
Anderson Webb Prize - For the highest overall and portfolio mark in Architecture- University of Cambridge
Peter de Somogyi Memorial Prize - For most distinguished performance in an Arts subject - University of Cambridge
College Scholarship - For excellent academic achievement- University of Cambridge
Foundress Prize - For excellent academic achievement - University of Cambridge
2024
RIBA Silver Medal - Nomination - Royal Institute of British Architect - December 2024
Dean’s Prize - For the most oustanding graduate in the Faculty of Architecture - Adrian Lahoud / Royal College of Art School of Architecture - July 2024
2023
Drawing Prize, 2024 - Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham - June 2023
Third Winner, Best Architecture Drawing, 2023 - RIBAJ Eyeline Drawing Prize - Royal Institute of British Architects - June 2023
Re-imagining Cumbernauld Town Centre - Competition Winner - RIAS and Glasgow Institute of Architects - Summer 2023
2020
Cadell Prize - For best performance in History of Art of Architecture - University of Cambridge
Edward S. Prior Prize - For best understanding of materials and construction - University of Cambridge
Peter de Somogyi Memorial Prize - For most distinguished performance in an Arts subject - University of Cambridge
2019
Cambridge Association of Architects Student Prize - For the highest overall and portfolio mark in Architecture- University of Cambridge
Peter de Somogyi Memorial Prize - For most distinguished performance in an Arts subject - University of Cambridge
Foundation Scholarship - For excellent academic achievement - University of Cambridge
Foundress Prize - For excellent academic achievement - University of Cambridge
2018
Anderson Webb Prize - For the highest overall and portfolio mark in Architecture- University of Cambridge
Peter de Somogyi Memorial Prize - For most distinguished performance in an Arts subject - University of Cambridge
College Scholarship - For excellent academic achievement- University of Cambridge
Foundress Prize - For excellent academic achievement - University of Cambridge
Exhibitions and Residencies
2025
Post Industrial Picnic - Food Commission - Estate of Gordon Matta Clark, No More Nowt, and East Durham Trust - 2025
Feral Worlding - November 2025
Coalface - RIBA North - November 2025
Artificial: Design Researchers in Residence, for Christie Swallow - The Design Museum - Summer 2025
Flyover Futures, curated by Owen Hopkins - Farrell Centre and Newcastle University - 2025
Making Kin - BASE Milano / Milan Design Week - April 2025
Design Hack: Everyday Eco-Activism - Co-Researcher with the University of London’s Institute of Languages, Cultures, and Societies Department (ICLS) - Peer Gallery and Good Growth Hub, Peer Gallery with the AHRC - June 2025
Digital Test Commission - No More Nowt and East Durham Trust - 2025
Activism and Social Change LGBTQ+ History Month, Curated by Gem Barton - RIBA Library - February 2025
2024
Pits and Pansies - Durham Miners Gala - July 2024
2023
Anatomies of Ecological Bodies: Assemblages of Coloniser and Colonised - HANGAR CIA, Lisbon - February 2023
Fertile Futures - Portuguese Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia 2023 - Summer 2023
2022
Climate, Summer Exhibition - Royal Academy of Arts - Summer 2022
2020
Not Only But Also - Betts Project, London - Summer 2022
2025
Post Industrial Picnic - Food Commission - Estate of Gordon Matta Clark, No More Nowt, and East Durham Trust - 2025
Feral Worlding - November 2025
Coalface - RIBA North - November 2025
Artificial: Design Researchers in Residence, for Christie Swallow - The Design Museum - Summer 2025
Flyover Futures, curated by Owen Hopkins - Farrell Centre and Newcastle University - 2025
Making Kin - BASE Milano / Milan Design Week - April 2025
Design Hack: Everyday Eco-Activism - Co-Researcher with the University of London’s Institute of Languages, Cultures, and Societies Department (ICLS) - Peer Gallery and Good Growth Hub, Peer Gallery with the AHRC - June 2025
Digital Test Commission - No More Nowt and East Durham Trust - 2025
Activism and Social Change LGBTQ+ History Month, Curated by Gem Barton - RIBA Library - February 2025
2024
Pits and Pansies - Durham Miners Gala - July 2024
2023
Anatomies of Ecological Bodies: Assemblages of Coloniser and Colonised - HANGAR CIA, Lisbon - February 2023
Fertile Futures - Portuguese Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia 2023 - Summer 2023
2022
Climate, Summer Exhibition - Royal Academy of Arts - Summer 2022
2020
Not Only But Also - Betts Project, London - Summer 2022