MARSHA RAMROOP BOOK LAUNCH

Marsha Ramroop launched her book Building Inclusion: Practical Guide to Inclusion in Architecture & the Built Environment on the 10^th of October 2024 at The London School of Architecture. She wore the rainbow dress I created for her and discussed the significance of choosing me as the designer for her dress during her speech.

‘I’m wearing a very special dress tonight that was designed by Eleni Kyriacou. For those who don’t know Eleni is an architectural graduate of the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and was the person behind the very public exposure of the culture there and whilst there may be some genuine issues that people have with the way the whistleblowing was handled, if schools of architecture listened to their students and changed their culture for the better, there wouldn’t be a need for an exposé in the first place. Since meeting her, Eleni has always represented to me, what it means to make personal sacrifices in this sector to give the unheard voice a place to speak. She’s sustainable in her approach and she uses fashion as an art form to make her point about stories and journeys and inclusion. And that’s why I’m wearing this incredible creation tonight; reflecting pride, Stephen Lawrence and sustainability. And I’m proud to call her a friend. There are many lessons that can be learned about the culture of teaching and the environment of academia, especially when it comes to the treatment of under-represented groups and those from different countries. And I hope that such vulnerability as shown by Eleni may be rewarded by changes in attitude, behaviours and systems. I hope she is watching this from Greece tonight. Ευχαριστώ φίλη μου for what you’ve done to support students and give a voice to their concerns.’ Marsha Ramroop

One year after its launch, in 2025, the book was Highly Commended by the UK Business Book Awards. As of September 2025 the book has been downloaded 1,400 times across 71 institutions in 23 countries.

https://www.buildinginclusion.info/blog/watch-buildinginclusion-again