2022 OPEN
OPEN 2022 ISBN 978-1-8383870-0-6 Cover image Joyee Lee Designed & produced Clare Hamman First published June 2022 Printed London © University of Westminster O
2022 OPEN
Contents Introduction Beyond the Studio Cultural Context Disser tation Technical Studies Digital Design Fabrication Lab Co-Design Workshop Westminster Architecture Society BA Interior Architecture Introduction and Process Interior Architecture First Year Interior Architecture Second Year Interior Architecture Third Year BSc Architectural Technology Introduction and Process Architectural Technology Second Year Architectural Technology Third Year BA Designing Cities Introduction and Process Designing Cities Second Year Designing Cities Third Year BSc Architecture & Environmental Design Introduction AEDTechnical Environmental Studies AED Second Year AEDThird Year BA Architecture [RIBA Part 1] Introduction and Process First Year Second Year Design Studios Third Year Design Studios MArch Architecture [RIBA Part 2] Introduction and Process MArch Design Studios Department of Architecture Staff Sponsors 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 24 30 36 44 48 52 58 62 66 72 74 76 80 86 90 104 132 168 172 238 240
4 OPEN2022 IS OUR celebration of a year’s creativity, and the achievements of our community of students and staff; and for the first time in three years, it’s wonderful to be able to throw a par ty and welcome all our friends and families back to our Marylebone home. The exhibition shows how after so much disruption we have rebuilt our community and reestablished our studios as joyful places full of creative serendipity, as places in which to spend time together learning and exchanging ideas and skills. It’s also a new kind of OPEN, with the physical show combining with a digital twin https://openwestminster.london through which we can share our work with an extended audience all around the world – a reach that we could only have dreamed of in 2019. The School remains committed to our Polytechnic inheritance of offering ‘a transformative higher education for all’. The Depar tment of Education has ranked us first of all UK Schools of architecture for social mobility, while at the same time we welcome students from all around the world, to create a mix of views and approaches that forms a key par t of our contribution to contemporary architectural culture, and to meeting our planetary and societal challenges. Our experimental design and research, inclusive place-making and transpor t, and low-carbon building are proving more impor tant than ever as we recognise the built environment as continuous with the living world. Work that we do in close cooperation with the world of practice, with myriad practitioners teaching in the School – and employing our students. Thanks are owed to many for OPEN. To our campus team led by Kow Abadoo, Chris Meloy and John Whitmore. To François Girardin, David Scott and the Fabrication Lab staff who have helped build the physical and curate the digital exhibition. To Mirna Pedalo who curates our http://www.openstudiowestminster.org and social media. To Clare Hamman who has designed and produced the catalogue and film. To Daniel Scroggins who has helped organise seemingly everything. Above all, thanks to our students and the staff. Perhaps by next year this will feel normal again. Please enjoy the show. Harry Charrington Head of the School of Architecture + Cities
Welcome to OPEN 2022
6 Beyond the Studio | Cultural Context ON THE BA Cultural Context programme students progress through one module per year : CC1 A History of Architecture, CC2 Architectural History and Urbanism and CC3: Dissertation. After a year of online learning, CC1 was able to return to in-person explorations of the history of architecture, including site visits to architecture and urban developments across London. From the remains of Londinium to the architecture of late 20th century financial institutions in the City, students visited ancient temples, churches, villas, ordinary houses, offices, and civic ar ts centres. As in previous years, students tested different perspectives on the diversity of architectural cultures throughout history and across the globe, presenting their own interpretations in written essays and verbal presentations based on evidence – buildings, drawings, photographs and texts – sensitive to specific cultural and environmental conditions. This year CC2 comprised a series of walks, lectures and seminars, examining themes that included gender ; environmental sustainability; heritage; regeneration and gentrification; and cultural identity. The curated lecture series introduced active research in architecture and urban studies and students produced group workbooks that reviewed and analysed these lectures. The live guest lecture series introduced a range of critical methods, such as oral histories and interviews, archival research, and ethnography, which students applied to their final essays. Students had guided visits to sites and exhibitions and also selected their own case studies to explore independently for the presentation assessment. In CC3, students choose, research and write about their own topics for their disser tation. This is done with the suppor t of seminars, presentations and weekly tutorials. The disser tation is a major oppor tunity for students to begin shaping the trajectory of their own academic and professional careers. Last year’s COVID restrictions steered quite a few students to accessible London-based topics. Among the many notable disser tations produced this year were: Alison Carrillo Culqui’s study of Latin American cultural influences in London’s Elephant and Castle; Marina Ioannu’s examination of the way COVID changed the meaning of public/private thresholds; Hasniha Thanganathan’s analysis of the Nagapooshani Ambaal Temple in Enfield; Rebecca Weller’s comparison of new market Halls in London; and Mina Gohary’s reading of how East and West Berlin’s identities are manifest in architectural elements. Cultural Context Nick Beech (module leader CC1) is an architectural historian and teaches histor y as part of a wide range of material cultural practices. Kate Jordan (module leader CC2) is an architectural historian with research interests in gender, heritage and faith architecture. Ben Stringer (module leader CC3) teaches design and cultural context. His recent publications focus on ideas about the rural. (top left) CC1: London's financial district – Lloyds of London [photo © William Warby] (top right) CC2: Exploring The Barbican Centre [photo © Clare Hamman] (bott om left) CC3 – Rebecca Weller: Pop Brixton [photo by author] (bott om right) CC3 – Alison Carrillo Culqui: Latin American food shop, Elephant & Castle [photo by author] CC1 Tutors: Susanne Bauer, Nick Beech, Kate Jordan, Maja Jovic,Tszwai So, Mireille Tchapi, Alessandro Toti CC2 Tutors: Nick Beech, Stefania Boccaletti, Kir ti Durelle, François Girardin, Clare Hamman, Kate Jordan, Maja Jovic, Constance Lau, Gwyn Lloyd Jones, Diana Periton, Mireille Tchapi,Tszwai So, John Zhang CC3 Tutors: Susanne Bauer, Nick Beech, Davide Deriu, François Girardin, Kate Jordan, Constance Lau, Gwyn Lloyd Jones, Kester Rattenbury, Michael Rose, Rachel Stevenson, Ben Stringer,Victoria Watson, JulianWilliams, John Zhang
8 Beyond the Studio | MArch Dissertation (left) Alcan Zekia: Samples of Bath stone for masonry students at Bath College, Radstock [Photo: Alcan Zekia] Dissertation Richard Difford, Lindsay Bremner, Harry Charrington, Davide Deriu, Kate Jordan, Diana Periton, Shahed Saleem, Ro Spankie, Ben Stringer (right) Elise Billings-Evans: Derelict building , formerly part of Cane Hill Hospital [Photo: Elise Billings-Evans] THE AIM OF the MArch disser tation is to encourage students to develop their ability to reflect critically, and with a degree of self-consciousness and confidence, on a topic relevant to architecture or urbanism. Each student chooses their own subject but the interests explored emerge out of research that begins almost a year earlier in the first year History & Theory seminar groups. Within these groups the students are guided by tutors well versed in a broad range of interests and research methods, and committed to suppor ting the individual specialisms and scholarship of each student. A range of topics and a plurality of approaches is therefore encouraged. Ultimately, the ambition is that these disser tations will be distinguished, not by their adherence to any par ticular methodology, dogma or style, but by their high quality. This year was no exception and there were many outstanding disser tations produced. Highlights include Philippa Oakes’ Curation & Creation in aWounded Landscape, which looks at the abandoned coastal district of Varosha in nor thern Cyprus. Drawing on the experiences of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, this account of Varosha past and present is both fascinating and moving. Persuasively written this study highlights the tension between the very real personal sadness and trauma of those directly affected by events in Varosha and the strange fascination that this district now has as a place frozen in time. Equally insightful, Alcan Zekia’s Following the Stone: An Anthropogenic Histor y of Bath Stone, brings together normally separated histories of Bath stone to position this revered material in the context of contemporary theoretical studies concerning climate change and the Anthropocene. Also of note were Elise Billings-Evans’ Asylum Seekers, which looks at the exploration and documentation of abandoned asylum buildings; Chantal Barnes’ Jacques Road: A Study of the Evolution of Garrison Communities in Kingston, Jamaica; and Zadee Garrigue’s study of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, entitled Gender, Identity & Nature. The high standard of the MArch disser tations is also evidenced by the recognition they receive beyond the university. Earlier this year, former MArch student, Sharaye Campbell’s disser tation, The Doorstep was featured in the Society of Architectural Historians’ Race+Ethnicity blog post series (https://www.sahgb.org.uk/features/doorstep). This is just the latest in a long line of successes including several disser tation medal winners and the publication of MArch students’ research in leading academic journals.
10 Beyond the Studio | Technical Studies THE TECHNICAL STUDIES teaching in the School of Architecture + Cities has been designed as a linear progression from first year Undergraduate through to final year MArch. For each year of study, a lecture series underpins the structure of the teaching. In first year, a four teen-week lecture series is delivered by Pete Silver that sets out an approach to the structure, form, material and environmental principles that constitute the ‘technologies’ of the built environment. In second year, Scott Batty runs the Site Diary assignment that affords many students their first experience of a construction site and introduces students to the Sustainable Design Principles devised by Scott Batty. In the third year Will McLean delivers a lecture series on environmental design – highlighting sustainable approaches to construction, material choices, heating, cooling and remediation. Materials Buffet This year saw the launch of the first ‘Materials Buffet’, an interactive seminar session for undergraduate students Pete Silver, Will McLean, Simon Banfield, Scott Batty, Aleksandra Cannock, Chris Leung & Andrew Whiting (top) 2nd year student site visit; (bottom) Technical Studies lecture series posters which makes use of the materials and models library collected by Technical Studies staff. Material samples were made available to handle and led to many good discussions about material proper ties and provenance. Consultant Surgeries Consultant Surgeries are organised for our final year Degree and Masters students of architecture. This provides students access to professionals including architects (with specialist construction/fabrication knowledge), structural engineering, environmental engineering and materials science. Visiting Lecture Series Will McLean organises theThursday evening ‘open’ lecture series, which highlights new technological developments in the fields of architecture, engineering and environmental design. The talks were simultaneously streamed and attended in person, and featured an international mix of speakers from the UK, Africa and the USA. Technical Studies Simon Banfield is an architect, educator and entrepreneur working on projects across the UK. Simon is interested in the hands-on act of construction within the building process. Scott Batty is a sole practitioner architect, teaches technical studies across degree and MArch and coordinates the second-year degree Technical Studies programme. Aleksandra Cannock founded architecture firm TAK Architecture and Design. She teaches students to create architecture grounded in sustainable practices. Chris Leung is an architect and associate professor at The Bartlett (UCL) and tutors environmental design and fabrication strategy for final year degree and MArch students. Will McLean lectures, writes and publishes about the technology of architecture. With Pete Silver, he recently co-authored Environmental Design Sourcebook: Innovative design ideas for a sustainable built environment (RIBA Publishing). Will teaches Technical Studies at all levels and organises the visiting lecture programme. Pete Silver is a practising architect and former building contractor. He has taught at the Architectural Association, The Bartlett (UCL) and the Royal College of Art. He has co-authored five books with Will McLean, including the 3rd edition of Introduction to Architectural Technology (Laurence King). AndrewWhiting is the director of HÛT Architecture. He has a particular interest in education and practice and teaches at Degree and MArch level. He is an RIBA Awards judge, and RIBA Part III Professional examiner. We would also like to specially thank Teo Cruz who films the evening lectures which are available on the Technical Studies website: technicalstudies.tumblr.com Guest Lecturers and Visiting Consultants: Ian Abley (Fire Protection Association), Jan Balbaligo (FACIT Homes), Bruce Bell (FACIT Homes), Henry Burling (Morph Structures), Allison Dring (Elegant Embellishments / Made of Air), Marc Exley (Morph Structures), Carlo Gagliani (Morph Structures), Dr Jim Glockling (Fire Protection Association), Fotis Grammatikopoulos, Kirsten Haggar t (Waugh Thistleton), Cath Hassell (ech2o), Dave Heeley (Morph Structures),Thomas Hesslenberg (Elliot Wood), Pedro Hur tado Silva (FACIT Homes), Asif Khan (PAD), Jason Lai (HÛT Architecture), Leslie Lok (HANNAH), Nzinga B. Mboup (Worofila), Steve McCloy (McCloy + Muchemwa), Bongani Muchemwa (McCloy + Muchemwa), Alastair Ogle (Waugh Thistleton), David Rayment (Morph Structures), Ehab Eleana Savvidi (Morph Structures), Rebecca Sawcer (Waugh Thistleton), Ian Seabrook (Laing O’Rourke), Guy Sinclair, Urna Sodnomjamts (HÛT Architecture), Doris Sung (University of Southern California/ Dosu),Ton Venhoeven (VenhoevenCS Architecture + Urbanism), Andy Watts (Grimshaw), Sasa Zivkovic (HANNAH)
12 Beyond the Studio | MArch Digital Design The four groups this year were as follows: GROUP A: Xpanded Realities Elite Sher Utilising the VR facilities now available as par t of the university's new XR Lab, this group provides an introduction to the use of games engines, Vir tual Reality headsets and Augmented Reality in architecture. GROUP B: Digital Craft Michael Kloihofer Employing contemporary digital fabrication tools, this group looks at adapting traditional forms of making to the digital age. GROUP C: Computational Design Miriam Dall’Igna Drawing on contemporary scripting and parametric modelling techniques, this group explores the potential for geometrically driven and environmentally responsive computational design. GROUP D: (Robotic-) Extruded Reality David Scott and Ed Lancaster Utilising the Fabrication Lab’s industrial robots, this group engages in the 3D printing of ceramics and the potential of mass customisation. Richard Difford (module leader), Miriam Dall’Igna, Michael Kloihofer, Ed Lancaster, David Scott, Elite Sher (top) Jo Lee: (Group D); (bottom left) Carl Fletcher: (Group C); (bottom right) Wui Lin Lee: (Group B) Under taken in the first semester of the first year on the MArch, Digital Design is a key component of the Architectural Reflections module which provides the oppor tunity to learn valuable computer skills, and to reflect critically on the use of digital media in architecture. The programme begins with an intense week of handson activity in the Fabrication Lab. Working in groups, the students learn essential digital fabrication skills and familiarise themselves with all the lab has to offer. This is followed by eleven weeks’ of classes each focusing on one par ticular set of digital tools and techniques. Students select from a choice of four different groups, each with a different focus and set of interests. The tutors for these groups are drawn from both practice and academia, providing critical reflection on the role of digital technology in architecture along with practical experience and technical exper tise. Each group combines technical instruction with related theory and precedents. In this way everyone gets a chance to learn something new and to build on their existing knowledge and experience. Digital Design
14 Beyond the Studio | Fabrication Lab Their public exhibition was followed soon after by the first Digital Design exhibition for MArch, bringing together diverse investigations in computational design, VR, digital fabrication and Japanese joinery, and robotic extrusion of clay architectural components. We hope this exhibition will become a regular event to celebrate this innovative work in future. Two fur ther new projects included an oppor tunity for visitors to get a first-hand experience of making in the Lab. Our first Maker’s Day was launched for attendees of the undergraduate Open Day to try out our tools and contribute to a contemporary recreation of Cedric Price’s Fun Palace. Visitors helped to create their vision of what a social, cultural centre might be with scale models using card, and metal, 3D-printed, laser-cut and robot extruded props. Finally, global events forced our hand again prompting us to create a ceramic patisserie using digitally created tools to raise funds for Ukraine. There are two fur ther workshops to come: a Finnish sauna to be built by the Thames this summer in collaboration with Sami Rintala and the Finnish Institute; and a computational design workshop in collaboration with Grimshaw Architects. It’s been an especially full and productive year. David Scott Director fabricationlab.london Fabrication Lab THIS YEAR HAS thankfully seen a welcome return to the unrestricted use of the Fabrication Lab after the lockdowns. We began with a flourish and a grand Masked Ball – acknowledging the continuing use of face masks on campus. MArch students worked in small groups designing and building spatial installations based on diverse international dances, ranging from the Viennese Waltz to the Argentine Tango. For the first time, our introductory MArch workshop took place in Ambika P3, offering a safer, socially-distanced environment as well as an extraordinary space for us to reinvent as a ballroom. Our students once again created marvellous and engaging projects and a memorable experience. The next few months saw a concer ted effor t to overcome the backlog catching up on the Essentials training courses we offer for each area of the Lab. We’re looking forward to an easier star t with many more people now trained for next year. Other projects, re-imagined as digital-only productions, also came back to physical life, notably the Kinetic Architecture Workshop for first year BA and BSc students in Architecture, and Architecture and Environmental Design. They explored the potential of dynamic elements in architectural design, testing ideas through detailed, digitally fabricated models. (top left) Students creating in the Fabrication Lab for Maker's Day; (middle & bottom left) Kinetic Architecture Workshop; (right) Digital Design Exhibition
16 Beyond the Studio | Professional Development ‘hands-on skills’ in both medicine and architecture. These included: asking groups to create word-clouds of what co-production meant to them, imagemapping emotional responses on to different sites, and representing in modelling clay what an ideal mental healthcare space should smell, feel, sound and taste like. Originally delivered online, in February this year with the government relaxing restrictions, we took the decision to hold the design workshop ‘in person’ spreading the students across the architecture studios and P3. The mapping of an online pedagogy back into real space was challenging. For the medical students it meant a day spent in a ‘studio environment’ – for most of them an unfamiliar type of teaching space – while for architecture students it was an oppor tunity for a more hands-on experience including physical model making. Exhausting, but much more stimulating, the delivery of the workshop in person required staff to accept losing some control of the timetable and the outputs, as after two years of lockdown the 64 groups of students literally took matters into their own hands. Mental Health, Design and Wellbeing: A co-design workshop in two parts THIS WAS THE second year the School of Architecture + Cities has worked with the Medical School at Imperial College London to explore the relationship between design, mental health and wellbeing. The collaboration includes 650 students from across six courses namely: BSc Medicine, BA Architecture, BA Interior Architecture, BSc Architectural Technology, BSc Architecture & Environmental Design and the Master of Architecture, as well as 40+ members of staff. The project comprised of two one-day co-design workshops, during which 64 cross-disciplinary groups of students reflect on four defined mental health conditions to identify problems and propose solutions for the design of four existing NHS mental healthcare sites. The terms co-design, co-creation, and coproduction all describe an open design process that empowers a wide range of stakeholders to make a creative contribution to the formulation and solution of a problem. With this in mind, the workshops were delivered as a series of tangible tasks that stimulated discussion and restated the impor tance of With thanks to: Harry Charrington, Sadie Morgan and all our ‘co-creators’ at Imperial College in par ticular Project Leads;Wing May Kong and Fiorenza Shepherd Photographs: Chamitha Mudihanselage Project Leads: Ro Spankie, Alastair Blyth Workshop Hosts: Diony Kypraiou,Tabatha Mills, Jane Tankard, JulianWilliams Design Tutors: Alessandro Ayuso, Susanne Bauer, Stefania Boccaletti, Kir ti Durrelle, Elantha Evans, Riccardo Fregoni, Maria Kramer, Will McLean, Paresh Parmer, AdamThwaites, Paolo Zaide PALS: Andrea Antoniou,William Beecham,Wajiha Dadabhoy, Jennifer DiezJones, Mar ta Dziuba, Aleksandra Gutkowska, Akmaral Khassen, Unnati Mankad, Rhea McCar thy, Lavinia Pennino, Lauren Polesel, Lilla Porkolab, Arshana Rajaratnam, Hannah Smith, Anastasia Tsamitrou, Linda Velika University of Westminster Staff
18 Geometry, Tectonism and Game Technology’ by Zaha Hadid Architects, ‘Material Passpor ts and Re-use in Retrofit Projects’ by ORMS, and an AR/VR workshop with Grimshaw Architects. In addition to these talks, we have organised day trips to FabPub at the Mamou-Mani Architects office as well as the Cork House project by CSK Architects, where we were given an in depth tour by the main architect, Matthew Barnett Howland. Westminster Architecture Society Co-Presidents: Sude Yılmaz and Elifnur Uluçay Vice President: Linda Tighlit Events Coordinator : Emerald Sky Henley Social Media Team: Faye Marielle, Robert Trojan Alcantara Graphics Team: Tala Alomar, Halima Abubaker, Maciej Przasnyski Researcher : Ana Ivaschescu WESTMINSTER ARCHITECTURE SOCIETY has been a voice and space for students in the School of Architecture with a common interest to come together. We have carried out discussions regarding global topics of current political and environmental concern as well as working in collaboration with the Fabrication Lab to contribute to the development of the course. In the past year we have hosted a number of lectures with guests from high profile practices like ‘Architectural The society is created for students with the valuable and generous suppor t of our tutors and faculty. We always welcome new ideas, members, and collaboration oppor tunities. Please get in touch: architecture.soc@su.westminster.ac.uk Beyond the Studio | Society (above) WAS visit to Cork House; ( facing page) WAS events
20 INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE SETS a balancing act between place-making and experience design. Ranging from the scale of the building to that of the room, and the interiorities of the urban context of London within which we operate, the course encourages students to study and design spaces from a user’s perspective, challenging them to reimagine existing buildings and relate them back to the community in creative and critical ways. Following two years of the pandemic, we dynamically re-joined our studio, celebrated our return to the city with group visits and extracurricular activities, and studied how the past years affected the ways we live and inhabit space. We explored a range of themes from retail to exhibition design, craft, making, upcycling, and investigated how complex interior environments can be reimagined, reinhabited and sustainably adapted. We reflected on the wellbeing of our communities, explored new types of spaces required to suppor t emerging life patterns, and experimented by drawing out atmospheres and designing new experiences deploying both traditional and multidisciplinary methods. The course has set up strong links to practice that suppor t the students in different ways including the inaugural ‘Interior Matters/Practices’ lecture series delivered by invited guest speakers, as esteemed critics at student reviews, and the realisation of our subject-specific employability events such as a week-long intensive set of workshops that coach and suppor t students to bridge the gap between academia and professional practice. All the above were made possible through contributions from numerous international and London-based design practices including Perkins + Will , TB Bennetts, Architype, Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, AECOM, Amos Goldreich Architects, Studio Sutton, Hassell Studio, Emil Eve Architects, Nicolas Pople Architects, Pardon Chamber Architects, and Gensler. Cross-disciplinary in its outlook, the course par ticipated for the second year in the ‘Co-Production Workshop: Mental Health, Design and Wellbeing’, held with medical students from Imperial College both remotely and in our Marylebone studios. With guidance from practitioners, clinicians, exper ts and patient advocates, our group considered how design affects health, and how conditions of the mind and body can inform the ways we perceive and redesign existing NHS interior environments. A ‘live-project’ and transformative learning experience enabled our students to reflect on their own practice by highlighting the impor tance of listening and working collaboratively in order to meaningfully contribute to real-world issues. Diony Kypraiou Course Leader
BA INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
22 BA Interior Architecture | Process
AYEAR OF BAIA,: (far left) Selection of Posters from the ‘Interior Matters/ Practices’ lunchtime lecture series. (top centre; bottom left & centre) Second-year material explorations and making workshop in the BAIA studio. (top right) L6 student during crit in studio. (bottom right) Student visit to ‘Shaping Space’ Exhibition at the Building Centre.
24 IN FIRST YEAR students on the BA Interior Architecture course are introduced to underlying concepts and principles associated with the discipline and learn fundamental processes, skills and techniques relevant to conceive, develop, resolve and communicate spatial design proposals. In the first semester students are set a range of assignments and shor t projects, such as: 2D representations to convey information using collage and timelines; a bread construct to investigate qualities of light and drawing conventions; and a group precedent study to understand intent and architectural representation. Building on these skills they are then asked to design their first piece of interior architecture. This year, they were challenged to address different types of Makers and their working/living spaces. The first was to design a transformable piece of Maker tecture (a combination of architecture and furniture) for a specified maker to inhabit and use as a stand alone spatial environment. Their location was the Museum of the Home in East London, where makers could demonstrate their work to the public in an interior setting related to domestic scale. In the second semester, students individually re-ordered the interiors of Hansard Mews proper ties for a critically relevant programme of specialised repair, repurposing, modification and upcycling of ‘stuff, waste, existing buildings and lifestyles’. Inspired by their visit to the Design Museum exhibition, ‘Waste Age: What can design do?’ and the Shepherds Bush location, burdened by consumer waste but strong in community potential, this fuelled students’ site and context investigations. While developing an understanding of remaking and reuse practices and ecological design, they iteratively investigated materials and techniques with an equally utopian eye. Liz Ellston (Year Lead), Nahed Chakouf, Inan Gokcek, Jo Hagan & Jo Meehan YEAR 1: Design Fundamentals & Strategies for Interior Architecture BA Interior Architecture | FirstYear Students: Sara Abdi, Halima Abubaker, Kristelle-Liis Ahone, Manal Ali, Ella Bedir, Ana Bolintineanu, Faye Buela Anyayahan, Hollie Champion, Rama Chams Bacha, Rober t Cizas, Yu Qing Dai, Aashman Danewalia, Patriece Daroux Young, Melissa Dinc, Ya Wen Ding, Rea Fernandes, Anna Fernandes Sola, James Frewer, Laiba Gohar, Charlie Hawkins, Yue Huang, Masuma Hussain, Alexandra Hutanu, Assem Izatullayeva, Junjian Kang, Fateme Khaleghi, Nadia Khatun, Jasmine Koomson-Gyasi, Zakia Lessak, Anna Lopes Giacomazzi, Yana-Maria Manoleva, Alicia McKenzie, Keiran Moore, Mar ta Nuevalos Camacho, Humeyra Onut, Charlotte Packman, Nanina Rainer, Emma Roescu, Rayyan Saleem, Fatma Sarikaya, Roksana Sobelska, Heidi Solis Hidalgo, Mikaela Tzikakou, Rayhan Uddin, Sara Vannella, Victoria Varjund, Jenny Vasani, Amy Viana Moreno, Yi Yang Wang, Kyra-Paige West, Audrey Wistehuff, Jia Qi Zhao Many thanks: Assemble Studio and Sugarhouse Studios Liz Ellston is an architect, lecturer and environmental communicator with a fascination for psychology of architecture and the interior, people: place, process: pattern. Liz’s experience from 20 years in design practice feeds into her pedagogy, encouraging various ways of learning. Nahed Chakouf is the founder of London-based architectural studio NJ Architecture. Nahed holds a PhD in Architectural Design from The Bartlett, UCL. Inan Gokcek is an interior and architectural designer running Studio Anares. He collects cultural artefacts which he upcycles for various design projects. Jo Hagan is an architect and principal of USE Architecture, a design studio driven by the fine line between pragmatism and pretension. He has taught for 30 years and supplants this with a passionate engagement with contemporar y culture. Jo Meehan is an associate of MAS Architecture studio, working on a range of public housing refurbishment projects and small scale sustainable inter ventions. (top to bottom) Fateme Khaleghi, Kristelle-Liis Ahone, Nanina Rainer, Group Paper Sculpture, Heidi Solis Hidalgo, Masuma Hussain Fabrication Lab: David Scott, Giada Gonzalez and Kasia Maskowicz Peer-Assisted Learning Assistants: Kirsten Davis, Hannah Hobhouse,Vilde Sand
(clockwise from top left) Marta Nuevalos Camacho, Yi Yang Wang, Alicia McKenzie, Patriece Daroux Young, Mikaela Tzikakou, Manal Ali, Charlie Hawkins
26 BA Interior Architecture | FirstYear (clockwise from top left) Alexandra Hutanu, Fatma Sarikaya, Alexandra Hutanu, Roksana Sobelska, Sara Vannella, Halima Abubaker, Marta Nuevalos Camacho
(clockwise from top left) Alexandra Hutanu, Yi ang Wang, Sara Vannella, Melissa Dinc, Rama Chams Bacha, Anna Lopes Giacomazzi, Halima Abubaker, Sara Vannella, Rama Chams Bacha
28 BA Interior Architecture | FirstYear (top left) Roksana Sobelska; (top centre & right) Manal Ali; (middle & bottom left) Humeyra Onut; (middle & bottom right) Emma Roescu
(top) Manal Ali; (middle) Hollie Champion; (bottom) Jiaqi Zhao
30 THISYEAR, OUR year 2 students looked for the materially sensuous and the impeccably crafted. Our studio focused on poetic, transformational spaces and interiors that have the potential to become catalysts for change. The year unfolded into two inter-related semesters, aiming to engage students with material experimentation and craft as drivers for sustainable design thinking. This allowed students to explore how small-scale processes can influence large-scale spaces and helped develop a deeper understanding of environmentally-conscious material and crafted modes of operating within interior architecture. In the first semester, we celebrated our return to campus and the city by spreading across London in search of material and immaterial aspects of urban ‘softness’. Through a series of rigorous and playful design processes, the students tested themselves as architectural flâneurs, gathering information directly from the urban realm and applying this to the design of meaningful spatial proposals, responding to the needs of marginalised communities within gentrified pockets of London. The second semester was an oppor tunity to focus on constructing spatial experiences and designing atmospheres for flagship concept stores in the retail sector. Through a series of process-driven material experimentation workshops, students were given the oppor tunity to develop a personal understanding of a set of seemingly incompatible materials and use this to construct innovative material applications and assemblages that would inform the production of immersive, atmospheric spatial proposals, responding to the creative agendas of emerging London-based fashion designers setting up shop in New Bond Street. Era Savvides (Year Lead), Alessandro Ayuso, Sophie Ungerer & Jamie Whelan YEAR 2: Culture, Alteration, Material and Detail Guest Critics: Owain Caruana-Davies, Sindi Dojaka, Paresh Parmar, Ross O’Connell, Corrie-Anne Rounding, Sophie Yetton BA Interior Architecture | SecondYear Era Savvides is founding director of creative collective Urban Radicals. Her design philosophy centres around a materially-driven, crafted approach to digital design and the creative use of robotic fabrication within the built environment. Alessandro Ayuso is Senior Lecturer whose studio-based practice and research focus on the intersection of representation, architecture and the body. Sophie Ungerer is an architect with a particular interest in the threshold between the interior and the city. She is currently part of an interdisciplinar y project which explores ideas of predictions, death and memor y through Blake’s poetr y. Jamie Whelan is committed to the creation of architecture that is embedded in the tradition of craft and making. Jamie Whelan Studio focuses on the fundamentals – light, space, material – to help our ambitious clients realise creative solutions to their projects. Students: Jose Abreu Gonzalez, Dalal Alabdulhadi, Deema Alrumayyan, Hala Alsaie, Maryam Aniseh, Nada Attar, Naima Augsburger-Salmen, Melisa Aydemir, Reyhaneh Babaei, Nafeesa Banaras, Ruqayyah Baqir, Nida’a Barakat, Madison Bar ter, Julie Beech, Rabab Bilal, Gabriela Boloz, Mine Bozkur t, Valentina Cazacu, Melissa Comber, Charlianne Constantin, Emily Davey, Malak Elmorshedy, Aswin Ferdinand, Atanas Ganev, Mar ta Gelo, Daniella Hakim, Barakah Haried, Mohammadamin Hoseiniyekta, Rwzhan Kader, Nur Kozan, Shromiya Kulendiran, Hiu Laam Pun, Oluwatoni MacGregor, Syeda Mahima, Eliana Mankel, Valeriya Mar tyanova, Eda Morina, Shima Mousawi, Bianca Paiu, Jayni Pindoria, Evita Puraite, Chi Quynh Le, Sairah Rahman, Danil Ripnar, Ella Sears-Pocock, Gyuldzhan Shyukryuoglu, Tanicia Silva, Ilona Tzompova, Mia Valova, Justina Veiksraite, Anisia Verdes, Yuhao Wen, MianWu, Dilber Yesildal, Hatice Zorpineci BAIA Yr2: Collaborative Workshop Special thanks: Asena Koksal,Victoria Pearce, Alicia Pivaro (UCL), Alexandra Woods (AHMM), MeganWoods,TomWright (Turner Works) Peer-Assisted Learning Assistants: Kirsten Davis, Hannah Hobhouse,Vilde Sand
32 BA Interior Architecture | SecondYear (top) Eliana Mankel; (bottom) Nafeesa Banaras
(top) Hiu Laam Pun; (bottom left) Evita Puraite; (bottom right) Danil Ripnar
34 BA Interior Architecture | SecondYear (clockwise from top left) Nada Attar, Anisia Verdes, Anisia Verdes, Hiu Laam Pun, Nada Attar, Nur Kozan, Dalal Alabdulhad
(top) Jayni Pindoria; (middle) Oluwatoni MacGregor; (bottom) Julie Beech
36 THIRD YEAR’S SPATIAL NARRATIVES focused on the relationship of body, mind and spirit. Drawing on conditions of isolation, the desire to reconnect with nature, and inspired by the history of Quintin Hogg’s Chiswick Spor ts Grounds as our site of exploration, the year began with in-depth archival research on the site’s history, followed by a collaborative site survey. Through a series of hands-on workshops, students studied the quality of light and the way it affects wellbeing. They pursued their design ideas by integrating the surrounding landscape to suppor t physical and spiritual activity, and offer moments of comfor t, pleasure, and care. Term I concluded with innovative and transformative spatial propositions for the Polytechnic Re-treat, reimagining the existing cricket pavilion as a prototype retreat for students and staff of our university. The Thesis Project is the main pursuit for Year 3 students. Each student identifies a host building and devises a programme based on analysis and personal design interests. Ideas are explored through an array of techniques including material experimentation and 3D scanning. The diversity of schemes and depth of speculation is indicated by a sample of project descriptions and locations: ‘Mian’ Museum: A Chinese eating culture and noodle museum in Haggerston Bath; People’s Palace: Transforming a derelict auction house for the Yemeni Community Association in Newpor t; Secret Garden: Allotment garden and café for the New Horizons Youth Centre in St. Dunstan’s in the East; Dr Mar tens Inventions Lab: A retail laboratory to tinker with inventions and enable self-expression in Covent Garden; A Vir tual Reality travel experience in a redundant depar tment store on Oxford Street; Bespoke Pop-Up: A recording studio for Kraftwerk on Broadway Market; Rewilding the urban stable at Chiswick; The Caustic Beacon: Transforming a historic riverside lighthouse into an immersive, sustainable hub. Diony Kypraiou (Year Leader), Sam Aitkenhead, Zoe Diakaki, Ro Spankie, Allan Sylvester & Julian Williams YEAR 3: Spatial Narratives & Thesis Project Guest Critics: Abdi Ai (Ruimte Design), Sam Aitkenhead, Abigail Hinchley (Perkins+Will), Jack Hoe (Studio Sutton), Medhi Jelokhani (Hassell Studio), Anna McNally, David Littlefield, Isabel Raynaud (Imperial College), Adam Phillips (Gensler), Fynla Stallybrass (Foster + Partners), Karan Vadgama (AECOM), SimonWinters (Heatherwick Studio) BA Interior Architecture | ThirdYear Nikol Kaso: Resurrection of St Duncan in the East Students: Nargese Abdulghafar, Nasreen Aideed, Tatiana Akhmetova, Jody Atkinson, Laura Aylen, Alison Carrillo Culqui, Samantha Castrillo, Evie Catto, Izabela Chera, Salome Cheriha, Carla Chisari, Sema Dag, Daniela Galhardo, Khushboo Halai, Amber Harvey, Nikol Kaso, Monica Kayila, Fatima Khan, Julia Knapek, Wiktoria Kulesza, Shouzhou Lin, Jade Litchfield, Niusha Mobasheri, Sarah Mohammad, Caisha Mohamud, Loren Pacarada, Trevena Reade, Mishaal Shamriz, Hannah Smith, Daria Szablewska, Dilani Thevathas, Asya Tirak,YarenTopal, IuliaTutomir, AldiarTuyakbay, MaraVon Kymmel, Zhengyao Xu Special Thanks: Amos Goldreich Architects, Azman Architects, Simon Dendere (TP Bennetts), Emil Eve Architects, Inan Gokcek (Studio Anares), Sean Griffiths, Eleanor Hill, Lewis Huff (TP Bennetts), Benson Lau,Tony Madgwick (School of Life and Sciences), Molly McCloy (BESPOKE), Miguel Noite (WeNetwork), Roman Pardon (Pardon Chamber Architects), Junior Phipps (Conscious Forms), Nicolas Pople Architects, Dain Son Robinson (SDG Coordinator, UoW), Era Savvides (Urban Radicals), Clay Thompson (Perkins + Will), Ullmayer Sylvester Architects, Polly and Kir t Upton (Architype) Diony Kypraiou is Senior Lecturer, architect and researcher. Her work explores practices of polyvocalism and performativity in design, exploring analogies staged across theatre, psychoanalysis, interiors and architecture. She is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK. Sam Aitkenhead is a designer, researcher and maker working across architecture, interiors, graphics and product design. His work explores ways to reduce environmental impact through design and material innovation. Zoe Diakaki is an architect and interaction designer whose work sits on the intersection of architecture, scenography and immersive technologies. Ro Spankie is Principal Lecturer and Subject Lead for Interior Architecture. Fascinated by the role of the drawing in the design process, she has exhibited and published work related to the interior in the UK and abroad. Allan Sylvester is Visiting Lecturer, a practicing architect, and founding partner of Ullmayer Sylvester Architects, a designled multidisciplinar y collaborative practice. Julian Williams is an architect and Principal Lecturer and has established the new Foundation Year in architecture and design at the Univesity of Westminster. His research focuses on teaching and learning.
38 BA Interior Architecture | ThirdYear Alison Carrillo Culqui: Latin American House
Laura Aylen: The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Boat Workshop
40 BA Interior Architecture | ThirdYear Trevena Read: Passwore Edwards Gallery
(top) Daniela Galhardo: Storyboard of the Polytechnic Retreat; (bottom) Tatiana Akhmetova: Section of the Filmic Escape
42 BA Interior Architecture | ThirdYear Zhengyao Hu: Mian Food and Culture Museum
44 BSC ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY combines specialisms in the technological, environmental, material and detailing decisions necessary to solve architectural design problems from conception to completion. It requires complex understanding of design processes, architectural composition, development, construction technology and management tools, and the effective communication of design information. We have relished the oppor tunity to return to studio teaching on campus. In the Architectural Technology studio this year, our 1st Year students were introduced to the design development process through a live project for a Children’s Hospice in Kent. 2nd Year students engaged in a community project at a renowned landmark in Peckham with passive design a priority; and 3rd Year students met with clients at a community-led bouldering facility to understand their brief for a larger mixed use complex in the Stratford Olympic Park. In 2nd Year, the design process (including site analysis, research of precedents and sketch development) and the technical repor t (digital software skills and technical resolutions to building components) work in synopsis with theTechnologies of Architecture module, which encourages experimental model making and understanding of passive design theory construction. 3rd Year is broken down into 3 stages: research, development and realisation. Research Initial research is key in order to understand any constraints that might follow from the site, building use, and client. As the year progresses, technical aspects of the design are investigated, including construction materials and structural considerations. Development With a clear understanding of the design task, students go on to develop individual designs and/or technical solutions. Sketches, models, 3D visualisations and BIM models are produced to progress ideas and as an aid to weekly discussions with lecturers, visiting architectural technologists, architects and other students. Realisation Architectural design and construction are collaborative endeavours, even more so as new technologies are introduced and as building requirements for greater energy efficiency result in greater complexity. Adopting and embedding the Westminster Climate Action Network’s strategy guidelines, communication through sketches, models and technical drawings is of the utmost impor tance. Architectural Technology students have benefitted from a range of brilliant initiatives over this academic year, including Co-production workshops with medical students from Imperial College, work experience in architectural practices and an alternative live project, technical studies lectures and UN Sustainability Goals workshop – all of which has enriched a thoroughly busy and productive year to be celebrated! Tabatha Mills Course Leader
BSc ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY
46 BSc Architectural Technology | Process
ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS exploring sites, the city and beyond to draw inspiration, for their designs and models. From top left: AT1 visited their site at Demelza Hospice Care for Children in Sittingbourne, Kent. An AT1 student working on their Design Principles module illustrated essay, critically analysing precedents through sketching. AT1 students visiting Rochester, Kent and enjoying an architectural walking tour, including Restoration House, the Cathedral and several Dickensian sites. AT2 Technologies of Architecture module involved learning model making and laser cutting skills in the Fabrication Lab. The new Design District in Deptford was a great place for AT3 to visit and appreciate the creative spaces with a combination of construction methods. AT3 bouldering at a climbing facility to equip their designs of a new building at the Olympic Park in Stratford.
48 BSc Architectural Technology | SecondYear (top) Zuzanna Jodlowska: Peckham Project;(bottom) Emma Rawlings: Peckham Project BUILDING ON LAST year’s Peckham project, we set out to explore a community-inspired project in response to the local authority’s attempts to develop the Peckham Arch area into a gentrified mixed-use development. In doing so, we wanted to see what role a designer can play in addressing socio-economic and climate inequalities. What ensued out of the recent pandemic has highlighted the power and potential of community action to act locally to raise or address the concerns of local communities affected by socio-economic, racial, housing or health inequalities. Our initial research tools included community engagement approaches, ethnographic practices and site analysis to explore the local context. The findings were translated into a series of diagrams that highlighted the oppor tunities and challenges associated with developing the site. The students made use of these findings and the initial proposed brief to develop their own design brief for a community-based facility offering the oppor tunity to host social, commercial and cultural activities. The initial proposals put forward in semester one were fur ther developed in semester two with a view to offer technical resolution to the architectural proposals whilst keeping in mind the sustainable dimension of what is being proposed. In synopsis with the Technologies of Architecture 2 module, fabrication and testing of technical designs created a deeper understanding of passive strategies and applications. Hocine Bougdah, Tabatha Mills & Adam Thwaites YEAR 2: The Peckham Arch: A community-inspired local development Hocine Bougdah is a Senior Research and Teaching Fellow with three decades’ academic and industrial experience. His research interests cover topics aligned with sustainability in design and include low energy strategies; culture and heritage in the sustainable built environment; users’ spatial experience-focused design; and issues of rapid urbanisation/globalisation and their impact on cities. Tabatha Mills is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Westminster where she has taught for 16 years. With 18 years’ industr y experience as a practicing Architectural Technologist, she established her own studio in 2005. With a background in projects from residential to healthcare, she brings industr y experience into the design studio and is focused on pushing educational boundaries within the specialism. Adam Thwaites is a passionate advocate of Architectural Technology as a distinct profession and route into a career in architectural design. Adam is Senior Lecturer and worked for a series of small architectural practices prior to moving into education. His research interests include the use of timber (CLT) in construction, demountable structures, ‘de-growth’ and energy efficient and sustainable construction methods. Students: Monisha Abu, Fatma Abubakar, Zeianab Ahmed,Afzal Ali, Sumiya Ali, Syed Yassin Ali, Mihriban Aslan, Mateusz Barcikowski, T’Sean Blake, Sankofa Briscoe Warner, Amjad Butt, Manuel Contessa, Chantel Forrester, Chanjeevan Granenthiran, Pascal Golda, Isaac Grant, Tallulah Griffiths, Mustafa Habibyar, Casey Hendricks Robyn Howe, Muzzammil Jiwabhai, Zuzanna Jodlowska, Lewis Lautier, Lorenc Lasku, Elany Loveridge, Kate McDonald, Alana Mendes De Oliveira,Yasmin Moshirabadi, Intisar Nadim, Emma Rawlings, Ahmad Sallahuddin, Kristian Ulan, Juan Vera Verduga, Kit Webster
50 BSc Architectural Technology | SecondYear (clockwise from top left) Amjad Butt: Peckham Project; Tallulah Griffiths: Technical Design; Zuzana Jodlowska: Technical design; Pascal Golda: Peckham Project; Zuzana Jodlowska: Peckham Project; Zuzana Jodlowska: Technical design; Group Project: Structural model
(top left) Tallulah Griffiths: Technical Design; (top right & bottom) Zuzana Jodlowska: Peckham Project
52 THIRD YEAR STUDENTS developed proposals for a climbing gym and co-working space, to be located on a vacant lot that was once par t of the 2012 Olympic Park. Following on from a site visit and investigation, students were able to try out the spor t and meet with the ‘client’. Students developed ideas via sketching and model making, culminating in the first semester with the development of a concept, general arrangement drawings and design and access statement. In the second semester students developed technical solutions, working drawings and detail drawings. Key elements were the design of a dynamic and engaging internal space with reference to the practical requirements of the client. Also, substantial floor to ceiling heights and a visually impactful building when viewed from passing trains on the adjacent railway. Consideration and technical development of passive and energy efficiency strategies were also key to this project and students were required to address each of the eight criteria forming the UoW Sustainability Design Principles. Adam Thwaites, Tabatha Mills, Jamie Ogilvie & Paul Smith YEAR 3: Yonder II Students: Fariya Abdul, Syed Ali, Zubair Ali, Nasma Amrane, Lloyd Butcher, Nimra Butt, Nikco Clayton, Regina Dadiala, Isaac Grant, Yassin Hamam, Gus Hodge, Samuel Hodges, Zaheen Ibrahimi, Ayan Jafarova, Karen Lai, Rommel Mangsat, Mohamed Mohamed, Richard Mulamootil, Jaswinder Nandhra, Aaron Philogene, Jones Pitan, Tarek Sankari Tarabishi, Noman Shahidul, Peter Sotiri, Ben Studd, Kamali Underwood, Laranie Ursula, Ismail Yoonis BSc Architectural Technology | ThirdYear ) Lloyd Butcher:;(top):Concept visualisation; (bottom):Long section Adam Thwaites is a passionate advocate of Architectural Technology as a distinct profession and route into a career in architectural design. Adam is Senior Lecturer and worked for a series of small architectural practices prior to moving into education. His research interests include the use of timber (CLT) in construction, demountable structures, ‘de-growth’ and energy efficient and sustainable construction methods. Tabatha Mills is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Westminster where she has taught for 16 years. With 18 years’ industr y experience as a practicing Architectural Technologist, she established her own studio in 2005. With a background in projects from residential to healthcare, she brings industr y experience into the design studio and is focused on pushing educational boundaries within the specialism. Jamie Ogilvie is an Architectural Technologist and alumni of the Architectural Technology BSc at the University of Westminster. Jamie has worked for a number of years within the residential design sector in the UK and received the CIAT Gold Medal Award for London 2018. As an active practitioner, he brings current technical skills and expertise to the studio. Paul Smith is an architect with 27 years’ experience at architectural practice Foster + Partners. Paul has taught on the Architectural Technology BSc for a number of years and brings technical knowledge, experience of many and various projects, and insights into the latest materials and technology.
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