Leon van Schaik is Professor of Architecture, Innovation Chair - Design Practice Research at RMIT University. A writer and academic with research interests focusing on spatial thinking, the poetics of architecture, urban design and the processes involved in procuring innovative architecture, Professor van Schaik has been responsible for promoting a dynamic culture of architectural innovation through practice-based research. His support of local and international architectural culture and his leadership in the procurement of exemplary architecture through his role at RMIT, has resulted in some of Melbourne’s most distinguished contemporary buildings which have had a profound impact on architectural discourse and practice in the city over the past two decades.