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