The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
About
Location London WC1 | ARB/RIBA courses BSc (Hons) Architecture, MSci Architecture, MEng Engineering and Architectural Design, MArch Architecture | Head of school Amy Kulper | Full-time tutors 44 | Part-time tutors 154 | Students 850 | Staff to student ratio 1:15 | Bursaries available Yes
Undergraduate
Yaowen Zhang
Course BSc (Hons) Architecture
Studio/unit brief Land (UG 9)
Project title Land, Building, Dwelling
Project description Most of The Netherlands’ clay comes from rivers and the sea. The microstructure of river clay means it attracts and holds fluid molecules, whereas marine clays have a high sediment content and are key to the development of environmentally friendly materials. A new modular construction is proposed, using marine clay as a form of eco-concrete and river clay to form moulds. The project critiques the finance-centric approach to housing and proposes a ‘slow mode’ to development inspired by Heidegger’s notion of ‘dwelling’. The scheme aligns to Rotterdam’s 20-year regeneration plan by establishing a modular factory, which will trigger new clay-based developments.
Tutor citation Yaowen’s proposal, incorporating landscape, building and community engagement, is both innovative and sensitive. Influenced by traditional modes of construction, Yaowen proposes a novel methodology through a complex array of technologies. Chee-Kit Lai, Doug John Miller
Postgraduate
Jeff Qu Liu
Course MArch Architecture
Studio/unit brief For things to remain the same, everything must change (PG 17)
Project title The Engraved Cycles
Project description Located in Addaura, Palermo, this project responds to the unique geological conditions of Sicily. It explores sustainable stone building and the interplay of time cycles, from the daily and seasonal cycles of local marinas to the cycle of human life and decay-regeneration cycles of the lithosphere. It proposes the adaptation of an existing marina and creation of a new civil registry. It revitalises the port by establishing community and fishermen’s assemblies. The civil registry, embedded in historical shipyard ruins, evolves as an archive of engravings to record Palermo’s human generations. The lifecycle of stone is reflected throughout this proposal: from quarrying to cutting, assembling, using, weathering, reusing and recycling.
Tutor citation This project responds to a marine history, existing building infrastructure and current conditions of the site in a poetic and ethical manner. Yeoryia Manolopoulou, Tamsin Hanke, Nasios Varnavas
