Unit A student Dana Ciocan wins UEL Dean Award 2026

Dana Ciocan has won the prestigous UEL Dean Award 2026 for her year 2 design project developed across 2025-26 that is titled 'Fragments of Gathering’. 

She explains, that "Reconnecting Springfield Park through principles of slow architecture, the project creates shared spaces for environmental learning, biodiversity, and community exchange. Acting as a threshold between schools, ecological networks, and the River Lea, the proposal strengthens connections between people, landscape, and climate awareness through collective participation."


Congratulations!

in connection with Unit A's investigation into 'Slow Architecture' and working with Springfield Park study area in Hackney, East London (2025-26)

 

 

Slow Architecture (2025-26)

 

 

How can architecture slow down urban everyday life? 
And how can slowing-down support wellbeing, climate resilience and adaptation?

The UN Sustainable Development Goals challenges cities to make urban living more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Yet, London continues to be built and rebuilt at an alarming pace perpetuating the endless chase for progress and investment, for the new, the “bigger, faster, and more”. But with the rapid advance of a changing climate, there is an urgency to critically question the socio-ecological impact of this approach and propose alternative spatial and environmental practices which can slow down or oppose this dynamic and reconnect us with the present, with people and the planet.
 
But how can architecture slow down urban everyday life? Can existing communities, existing buildings and green spaces support and promote a counter-movement to slow things down? Copenhagen’s Architecture Biennale theme for 2025 invites us to “Slow Down to a deeper, slower and more long-term form of reflection” that proclaims a new critical attitude to architectural practice and re-examines relationships and care working with people, places, nature and infrastructure.

This year, Unit A will explore ideas of ‘Slow Architecture’ which, drawing from the “slow food” movement, promotes an architecture that uses and celebrates local and sustainable ingredients. We will engage with London Borough of Hackney (LBH) and with their Parks and Green Spaces Strategy 2021-31, to respond to the councils aims to radically redefine the role of parks and green spaces in the borough as spaces for learning, volunteering, well-being and biodiversity. 
 
Springfield Park and Lea Valley Regional Park will become our study area for the year and through hands-on engagement with people, nature and the site, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the broader context and investigate how new practices of design can foster dialogue, build new relationships, and reimagine parks and green spaces as community anchor points where urban life can unfold in a more human and ecological pace.
 
Students’ project briefs and design proposals will bring local communities and ecologies together and explore the site as a Space for Learning, Meeting and Exchange. Working with a live-project situation and engagement with stakeholders and Hackney Council, we set out to explore how design and design thinking can help to move us towards a more sustainable future, also supporting the building of a strong set of skills in readiness for students’ future architectural and professional life.

Unit A student Baris Freed wins RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Contextual Design

 

Baris Freed has won the RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Contextual Design for his project titled ‘Candy Wrap Studios’ that combines a shared programme of Creative Workspace with Sports and establishes shared spaces both for local youth and the emerging artist community. The project aims to off-set the erosion of spaces for cultural exchange and the everyday, that is fuelled by the profit-driven approach to development across Stratford. 

Congratulations!


in connection with Unit A's investigations into Stratford Civic Centre (2024-25)

Unit A student Yogesh Mall nominated for RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Sustainable Design

 

Yogesh Mall has been nominated for the RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Sustainable Design for his project titled ‘Stratford Open Workshop’, that proposes to re-introduce spaces for collective making, learning and a building sustainable community across Stratford’s Civic Quarter. Embracing circular design using locally sourced low carbon materials such as rammed earth and thatch, the project aims to become an exemplar for alternative approaches to development and regeneration of the Stratford town centre.

Congratulations and fingers crossed!

in connection with Unit A's investigations into Stratford Civic Centre (2024-25) 

Unit A student Zaynab Ahmed nominated for RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Contextual Design

 

Zaynab Ahmed has been nominated for the RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Contextual Design for her project titled ‘Common Grounds’ that proposes a new civic space for Stratford’s town centre and aims to support creative exchange between artists at Grow Studios in Alice Billing House and the local community: Spaces for a book club, live-performances, events, workshops and meetings offer opportunities across all ages to meet, gather, learn, and share and to have a good time. 

Congratulations and fingers crossed!

in connection with Unit A's investigations into Stratford Civic Centre (2024-25) 

Unit A student Elizabeth Johns nominated for RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Sustainable Design

 

Elizabeth Johns has been nominated for the RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Sustainable Design for her project titled ‘Forging Civic Connections’ is a new hub for Stratford’s creative community that repairs the high street along West Ham Lane through insertion of two new buildings: one is housing a community workshop and the other a series of exhibition spaces. The new civic yard to the rear, provides flexible open spaces for forging connections between the public and the artists community at Alice Billing House. Congratulations and fingers crossed!

in connection with Unit A's investigation into Stratford Civic Centre (2024-25) 

Unit A student Emanuelly Cardoso Santos nominated for RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Contextual Design

 

Emanuelly Cardoso Santos has been nominated for the RIBA ELAG Student Award 2025 for Contextual Design for her project titled ‘Stratford Craft School’ that offers opportunities for children to learn practical, hands-on skills in a supportive environment and combines multi-use galleries for local artists to exhibit their work, host workshops and bringing people of all ages together through art and making. Congratulations and fingers crossed!

in connection with Unit A's investigation into Stratford Civic Centre (2024-25) 

UEL end of year show 2025

 

UEL end of year exhibition open now. Everybody welcome

University of East London
Department of Architecture
AVA Building
Docklands Campus
London E16 2RD

Stratford Civic Centre (2024-25)

 

How can London’s existing creative spaces help us to re-imagine sustainable futures with people and planet at the heart of regeneration policy?

Unit A is interested across the domains of architecture and urbanism and understands architecture as a contextual response to the city, by critically questioning pre-existing and found conditions. Unit A works with live-project situations and connects the learning in architectural design with active engagement in knowledge exchange between students and external partner organisations. The unit approach and method are closely linked to research outcomes and the studio works as a platform for collaborative learning and critical design practice.

This year we set out to explore Stratford town centre, which has got plenty of places for work, live, study, shop, leisure, entertainment and a vast travel infrastructure. If cities were machines for living and working, Stratford would be a perfect city. But life is more than that, cities are not machines, and Stratford is far from perfect. What is it missing?

Collaborating with Grow Studios, Creative Land Trust, Purcell Architects, London Borough of Newham and Studio 2 at Central Saint Martins, we set out to explore alternative opportunities for Stratford’s Civic Centre and engaging with Newham's ambitious vision to place ‘people’ and ‘planet’ at the heart of public policy in the regeneration of Stratford Town Centre. As part of this new agenda, London Borough of Newham welcomed Grow Studios, an affordable workspace and artist studio provider, into Alice Billing House, the former Stratford Firefighters’ accommodation, and a listed building which remained empty for decades, that was brought back to life by the Creative Land Trust with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The opportunities and conflicts arising from emerging creative uses and shifting demographics were starting points for our social-spatial analysis and the subsequent development of transformative design interventions that foster urban and civic life to reimagine Stratford Civic Centre as a place for local people, for new social situations and new ecologies.

The students’ design proposals for a Project Space critically question predominant models of spatial re-production by exploring opportunities for adaptive spaces, proximity and co-existence of creative and social and programmes, that create value through building relationships.  

 

Collaborators: 
Jordanna Greaves (Grow Studios), Marguerite Metz (Grow Studios), Yves Blais (Creative Land Trust), Simon Cole (Hackney Tours), Alex Peacock (Purcell Architects), João Mendes (Purcell Architects), Shabana Qadir (London Borough of Newham), Studio 2 from Central Saint Martins

Guest critics: 
Armor Gutierrez, Alan Chandler, Catalina Pollak, Charlotte Harris, Colin O'Sullivan, Hamda Jama, Legend Morgan, Mark Sustr, Oscar Brito-Gonzalez, Teresa Serrano, Robert Whitlock, Philip Christou, Keita Tajima, Stephanie Schultze-Westrum

Many thanks:
Álvaro Siza Vieira, Alfonso Silva, António Choupina, Ivana Sehic, Jónatas Pego (Bomfim Conservatory), Nuno Silva (Instituto), Paulo Moreira Architectures, Pedro Jervell (Gorvell), Pedro Pimentel 

Students: 
Year 3: Amiran Khan, Baris Freed, Elizabeth Johns, Emanuelly Cardoso Santos, Katarzyna Szczegielniak, Marwah Ali, Sunamita Russu, Yogesh Mall

Year 2: Azra Tamer, Ahab Nawab, Ismail Bendaba, Madihah Hajar, Neusa Nancassa, Rohan Robinson, Yasmin Reames, Zaynab Ahmed
 

Unit Lead: Carsten Junger and Fernanda Palmieri 

 

image credits: Urban Impact drawing by Emanuelly Cardoso Santos, Axonometric drawing of Stratford Civic Hub with proposal for a School of Food & Gardening by Madihah Hajar

Guardian Article: ‘My studio costs half my income’: can British art survive soaring rents and property developers?

This article published in The Guardian titled "‘My studio costs half my income’: can British art survive soaring rents and property developers?" contextualises current issues of displacement that artist communities working in the capital are facing. The research project referred to in the article, was initiated through students from UEL's Unit A and Central Saint Martins working on this subject under direction of tutors Carsten Jungfer and Fernanda Palmieri and Oscar Brito-Gonzalez during the 2022-23 academic year (phase 1), and expanded into a collaborative research project with SPACE Studios, Aboard and graduates from both architecture schools working as co-researchers with support from the Mayor of London / GLA (phases 2+3). We are currently seeking funding for phase 4 to conclude, bring together and publish the findings.

Unit A student Nabiha Warsame nominated for RIBA ELAG Student Award 2024 for Sustainable Design

Alongside Nabiha Warsame's nomination for RIBA's Presidentsmedal and winning UEL's Portfolio Award, she has also been nominated for the RIBA ELAG Student Award 2024 for Sustainable Design for her project titled 'The Blackhorse Lane Collective' envisages the historic industrial shed to be preserved, adapted and transformed into a centre for productive activities for the existing community of creative organisations and a place of knowledge exchange for the implementation of circular economy models including re-use of local material resources of buildings destined for demolition. Congratulations and fingers crossed!