James W.P. Campbell is an architect and architectural historian. He became Head of Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge in October 2019. Before becoming an academic, he had practised as an architect in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the United States. Professor Campbell is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and Chairman of the Construction History Society. He is Director of Studies and Fellow in both Architecture and History of Art at Queens’ College and Director of Studies in Architecture at Trinity. His research looks at the history of the built environment (primarily buildings, but also infrastructure such as water supply and fountains). He is interested both in particular periods (Early Modern) and long view histories of particular objects (eg. doors, staircases, fountains) and building types (eg. libraries, fountains, colleges). His interest is both in history and development of technologies, which is rarely linear, and in the professional, social and economic factors that influence them. As well as writing books and publishing academic articles, he has appeared on a number of television and radio programmes. He is author of Brick: A World History (2003), Building St Paul's (2007), and The Library: A World History (2013). He is Principal Investigator on a project on the world-wide historical development of water infrastructure and fountains, funded by the Seear fund at Queens'. He also co-edited the proceedings of the Second International Congress on Construction History and has been lead editor on the nine volumes of proceedings for annual conferences on construction history held between 2014 and the present day.

Affiliation: University of Cambridge, UK

Peters was born in Berkeley, California, educated in Rochester NY, Mumbai, and Zurich, before training as an architect at the ETH Zurich with a focus in construction and materials. He subsequently worked as an architect in Denmark, England, and Switzerland before turning to teaching construction and research. He holds a master degree and a doctorate in architecture from the ETH Zurich and a habilitation in the history of technology from the TH Darmstadt. From 1982-2007 he taught architectural technology and history at the University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University and Lehigh University. He also served as Director of the Building and Technology Institute there from 1989-2007, and as Chair Professor and Chairman of Architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong 1998-2000. His writing and lecturing ranges from the theory of technological thinking in civil engineering and architectural design, cultural theory in structural engineering, and pedagogical studies on teaching construction and materials, to treatises and articles on construction history, a field he helped found and develop from the mid-1970s. He is the author of many influential books, reports and articles and is known for his expertise in antiquarian books that deal with civil engineering and construction. Peters lectures and has worked with schools or professional groups worldwide, serving as advisor to several undergraduate and graduate architecture programs.

Affiliation: Lehigh University, USA