John Spence, Founder and Chairman of Karma Group, has been honoured for the second time by the Yale University School of Architecture by being appointed the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Professor of Architectural Design for the fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. This marks the first time that the faculty has offered this position to the same person on more than one occasion.
Established through the generosity of Edward P. Bass, this fellowship enables the School to invite distinguished private and public sector leaders in the development community to participate as integral teaching members in advanced studios and seminars.
John will be teaching graduate level advanced studios alongside the renowned architects Patrick Bellew, Henry Squire and Tim Newton. They will be using Karma Group’s resort on the Indonesian island of Gili Meno, Karma Reef, as a test site for the students who will be challenged to design a resort on the island to be sustainable, economically viable, architecturally exciting and as resilient as possible to earthquake, tsunami and natural disasters. John will mostly be teaching at Yale, but as part of the course he will be bringing the students to Karma Kandara on Bali, and to Gili Meno, so they can better understand the local environment and conditions.
“It is wonderfully exciting to be returning to the hallowed halls of the Yale University School of Architecture as the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Professor of Architectural Design,” said John Spence, Founder and Chairman of Karma Group. “Having the opportunity to share the knowledge I have gained over many years with some of the brightest and best students of architecture in the world is an immense honour. I am looking forward to seeing what wonderful solutions this cohort devise for our Gili Meno project.”
John’s passion for architecture and, in particular, it’s relationship with the cultural and physical environment it inhabits, has seen him earn wide respect for developing stunning properties throughout the world that both complement and enhance their environments. Karma Kandara, John’s spectacular property on the cliffs of Uluwatu in Bali, Indonesia has been recognized as a masterpiece of environmental integration. A deep understanding and respect for building creation and a keen eye for acquisition of classic architecture has been central for John throughout his career as a global trailblazer.
