UNIT H: CULTURAL GEOMETRIES

Saturday, 6 April 2013

Union Street

Trailer: Good Bye, Union Street from openvizor on Vimeo.

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Videos

Eames, Charles and Ray - Powers of Ten [1977]
Kassovitz, Mathieu - La Haine [1995]
Keiller, Patrick - London [1994]
Maddin, Guy - My Winnipeg [2007]
Matta Clark, Gordon - Conical Intersect
Reggio, Godfrey - Koyaanisqatsi [1982]
Varda, Agnes - Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse [2000]
Weber, Eva - The Solitary Life of Cranes [2008]
Wenders, Wim- Wings of desire [1987]

Reading List

Benjamin, Walter - Illuminations [1955]
Crow, Thomas - Gordon Matta-Clark [2003]
de Certeau, Michel - The Practice of Everyday Life [1984]
Diller + Scoffidio - Flesh: Architectural Probes [1996]
Flores, Prats - Through the Canvas [2008]
Littlefield, David - London (Re)Generation [2012]
Perec, Georges - Life a User's Manual [1978]
Tavernor, Robert - Smoot's Ear (the measure of humanity) [2007]
Ungers, Oswald Mathias - City Metaphors [1982]

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  - Union Street
  - Pop-up Garden
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UNIT H: PEOPLE

Dexter Benjamin, Joshua Brown, Danai Charalampidi, William Conway-Smith, Lucas Fabbri, Harriet Garbutt, Joe Goldman, Minerva Mariotti, Jonah Maxted, Olivia McAndrew, Simona Puckovicova, Haydn Read, Joanna Ryterska, Sam Tottenham, Oscar Von Clear, Adrian Cristian, Simisola Abidakun, Esther Attrup, David Kay, Geoerge Michelin, Frida Randen, Isis Reid, Jenna Revell, Rosemary Somerville, Cai Thomas, Jaina Valji

Tutors: Christina Godiksen, Cristina Gerada, Charles Parrack

UNIT H: MANIFESTO

CIVIC / CITIZEN / CITY INTRODUCTION

Unit H is interested in the notion of civic in our cities and our architecture. As the 3rd chapter into urban development and neighbourhoods in transition, we will focus on civic spaces, civic buildings and citizens. We believe that civic-ness and public-ness are intertwined, and that architecture is the physical expression of culture. Our aim is to inject magic into the everyday. We seek the architectural potential and cultural relevance of idiosyncratic customs and eccentric moments in cities. The unit will question, propose, test and design new types of civic architecture.

We will use film throughout the year as an integral part of our design process. Film allows us to think both spatially and temporally, bringing us closer to the experienced reality of our design proposal. It allows us to join up all the layers of our design process so that we can critically develop architecture that is sensitive and knowing across urban, architectural and human scales. We begin with project 1: a scene study of CINEMA PARADISO, modelling and drawing analytically, precisely and conceptually to open up the themes of the year.

The unit experiments and designs through action and making. In project 2 you will work in groups and design your own civic scene on site at 1:1. Using your work from project 1 as a trigger you will become involved actors and participants. You will also be introduced to stone mason techniques and begin your material experimentation with local stone waste. Engaging with local sites, users and techniques, you will learn to design in perspective. Through critical engagement with your own experiences you will design a bit of urban magic.

Our own magical experience will be to work in a marble quarry in project 3 with breathtaking mountains of marble waste and deep quarry pits. Learning from local culture, experimenting with 1:1 material prototypes and imagined scenes in an abandoned quarry, we will test architectural ideas for new civic uses. Our methods will include traditional and contemporary ways of carving / cutting / etching to design a new building component and civic building out of waste marble. We will exhibit our work locally and collaborate with the quarry, municipality, university and local architects.

You will design a Civic Institute for the site at Earl’s Court in project 4. Use this project to question the notion of civic in this changing/ fragmented part of the city. Continue the line of enquiry established in earlier projects and evolve your building component to its new context. We will run workshops and talks by leading experts. The unit actively debates current issues in society and fosters a strong link to architectural practice and job opportunities. Ongoing work will be exhibited and used as catalyst for design conversations with relevant stakeholders and current practitioners.

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