MacMag 44 by MACMAG

MacMag 44

A message from the editors… The past year has been a significant and memorable time for the Mackintosh School of Architecture and the community of the Glasgow School of Art as a whole. It should have been a jubilant milestone for the Mack and GSA: with scheduled re-opening of the Mackintosh building and additionally the 50th anniversary of our concrete home, the Bourdon building. Sadly, as we know, the celebration was overshadowed by the second fire to the Mackintosh building, reducing a marvel to a desolate hollow shell. The tragedy and loss had quite literally immobilised and locked us out of our own building indefinitely, consequently plunging us, the staff and the school into chaos. Throughout this issue, we want to highlight the resolve of the Mack, not let such a deplorable event hold us back, but see it as an opportunity to approach matters differently, from a fresh perspective - giving us a new platform to express ourselves, thus gradually restoring order. This year’s publication will be the first time in MacMag’s 44-year long history when the magazine is going to consist of two volumes - each focusing on a different juxtaposing theme. From its inception, it has always been the aim of MacMag to not just be perceived as a yearbook, but as a vehicle to showcase the wide ranging palette of work highlighting the abundance of ability, skill and talent across the Mackintosh School of Architecture. With student populous increasing each year, our aim as editors and curators is that of showcasing a diverse, skilful and interesting array of work. Thus it is inevitable that not every student’s work can be featured in the publication, however we would like to thank all students and staff who collaborated with us. It is an inspiration to see how strong we stand as an institution. You inspire us. And we hope to have you inspired. This is MacMag 44. 2

a message from the editors

Lida Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shea, Josh Hinh, Derrie Pearson, Thomson Lee

The Equal Architect Symposium A Personal Reflection on the event organised by M.i.A. (Missing in Architecture) by Annie Higham I arrived at the Equal Architect Symposium with the vague idea that it was about women in architecture and that it would probably be interesting because I am one. Currently on my year in practice, I had heard about it through a friend from work after an embarrassing exchange where she proved to know more about the goings on at my university than I did (always check your student emails.) However, before the introduction was even finished, I realised that I had massively underestimated the event and that it was going to be a day of in-depth analysis of issues of equality and diversity, touching on race, sexuality, disability and class, in addition to gender, in architectural education and in the wider industry. As an architecture student I will, of course, take any opportunity to talk about being an architecture student, but this event prompted me to reflect on my experiences at university, and my time in practice, on a much deeper level. The topics discussed demanded your attention and the second each coffee break was announced my friend and I would break into rapid conversation in an attempt to unpack the latest series of talks. A strength of the symposium was the spread of speakers from different points in their careers; from current students to recent graduates, people working in practice, to academia, to a bit of both. The first speaker was Alisha Fisher, one of the co-founders of Black Females in Architecture, a collective launched with fellow architects Selasi Setufe, Neba Sere and Akua Danso, after they met at a lecture and decided to create more networking opportunities for Black women in the industry. They aim to provide mentorship, access and opportunities through events and workshops. It was exciting to see young people within the profession trying to improve the situation for those coming up after them and prove that after graduating you don’t have to accept the inadequacies within the industry you are entering but can make your own impact. Black Females in Architecture has been incredibly successful, with Dezeen columnist, Phineas Harper, writing in his year review that, “For those who care about diversity in architecture, the founding of BFA is one of the biggest leaps forward of 2018.” Alisha Fisher spoke about the importance of being able to talk to people with shared experiences and a large success of BFA is the social media community that they have grown. This idea of needing spaces where you can find community with those who have faced similar issues you was a recurring theme throughout the day, and it forms the core for Voices of Experience, a collaborative project led by Suzanne Ewing, Jude Barber and Nicola McLachlan. Jude Barber also spoke at the symposium and talked of their goal to investigate the unrecognised women who have made important contributions to architecture and the built environment. They pair highly experienced women with those just starting out their careers and work with the Glasgow Womens’ Library to building an audio archive of these conversations. Just as finding a community of others sharing your experience currently is vital, Voices of Experience work to equalise the history of the built environment to create a legacy from which to grow. 8

equal architect symposium

Equalising architectural history is also important to Helen Aston and Abigail Patel, who spoke of PRAXXIS, the feminist architectural collective they are developing at Manchester School of Architecture. PRAXXIS aims to, “challenge the current paradigm of the lone genius architect as hero, disseminate feminist knowledge and methods through teaching, and generally celebrate women in architecture.” Recent projects they have led include designing a roll of feminist architectural wallpaper naming as many women in architecture as they could gather. They also created a feminist architectural reading list for students and staff and an Ethel Shed, named for Ethel Charles, the first woman architect to be accepted by the RIBA, where they will invite ‘feminist in residence’ students to exhibit their work throughout the year. It was really exciting to see an architecture school that was embracing a feminist attitude as failings of diversity within architectural education was another repeated theme through the symposium. Failings for Provisions for Disabled people within architecture was also proven to be a huge failing. Jos Boys made the extent of this clear when she launched into her talk by asking everyone how we got into the building that day. The general feeling was shame as the audience realised, we’d all walked up stairs to get into the building without thinking about it twice. Jos Boys is part of the Dis-ordinary Project, a group of disabled artists who promote the idea of starting from disability within design, rather than treating Disabled people as a technical or legal problem tacked on at the end. The group brings together built environment practitioners, educators and students with Disabled artists to explore how valuing different ways of being in the world can provide creative alternatives to conventional ‘access solutions.’ An important part of this process of starting from Disability is thinking about the types of bodies we draw. Boys spoke of how designing from diverse bodies opens up questions of who counts as ‘normal’, what kinds of bodies get taken notice of in design, and how to work towards architectural practices based on spatial justice. One person trying to bring spatial justice into architectural education is Kathy Li, one of the founders of Missing in Architecture. As Stage One leader at the Mackintosh School of Architecture she has introduced diverse bodies from the first project, with students drawing first themselves doing an every day activity and then the same activity being done by someone with a physical disability or impairment to highlight the different ways different bodies use space. It was interesting hearing about some of the ways that the inequalities discussed in the symposium were being dealt with at MSA as the failings within the institution were the starting point for the founding of Missing in Architecture, the group that was running the event. It can be easy for a discussion of inequality to simply feel depressing but every speaker at the symposium managed to convey their solutions to improving the industry and the successes that they are already seeing. As Dieter Rams said, “Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design.” Images courtesy of Vivien Carvalho.

Stage 1 Introduction by Isabel Deakin and Kathy Li Before you know it the academic year is coming to a close and our Stage 1 students can look back on their humble beginnings and reflect on how far they have come since September. Our final project of the year â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thermaeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; allows students to demonstrate the ability to design their first simple building. Returning to the themes of disability and diversity, the design for a bathhouse was also a good reason to immerse ourselves in a study trip to the thermal baths of Budapest and apply this project back in Glasgow. This invaluable first hand experience helps to inform the atmospheres of the designs on display.

Thermae Project Euan Clarke The concept of the project was to create a specious Bathhouse that complimented the way elderly people tend to relax and communicate with each other on a daily basis. My client was people with arthritis and so areas of the bath house were tailored towards hydrotherapy treatment which is used to prevent swelling and pain. With walls acting as dividers and minimal areas of isolation, the bath house was to feel both intimate and inclusive with visitors able to feel connected with each other however not feel exposed. The minimal use of complimentary materials and expansive views creates a calming environment enhancing relaxation and leisure. 14

Stage 2 Introduction by Luca Brunelli In Semester 2 students begun with the study of a small-town centre, focusing on the first-hand apprehension of the physical reality of the site looking carefully at the character and materiality of the place, trying to identify, retain and collate its ‘terroir’. The resulting graphic atlas is a shared body of knowledge that stimulates and supports the development of the architectural proposals in the following exercise. Informed by philosopher Ivan Illych concept of “conviviality” project 4 asked students to operate as bricoleurs on the site of the existing public library to develop proposals for an evolved public facility for Bo’ness town centre. Projects were required to be speculative in their response to the theme, resolving a programme of accommodation updated to meet contemporary and future needs, and to the context, enhancing the attractiveness of the town-centre as a place of convivial encounter. Towards the end of the semester the two weeks long Studio Practices course provided an opportunity to collaborate and confront ways of working with Product Design Engineers to develop proposals for an inclusive, modular and flexible accommodation for the GSA campus in Forres.

Convivial Library Adam Cowan My convivial library tackles the way in which Bo’ness presents itself – quiet, modest and stony. The existing architecture, despite being rich in traditional craftsmanship and expressing the beautiful materiality of stone, causes many ‘dead’ public spaces. The life within these buildings is masked from the street. Bo’ness currently lacks the industry needed to sustain these spaces – with one exception. The vibrant and energetic annual fair weekend is a huge investment of time, money and effort from the community. They go as far as to construct arches, costumes and floats for the parade. In response to this community spirit, I aim to embody and express the activity of Bo’ness through transparencies in the glowing façade of my proposal. This will reveal the vague silhouettes of users occupying rooms, punctuated with windows framing key views both inwards and out, inspired by the Laban Dance Centre. The polycarbonate skin would provide clean, diffuse lighting throughout the workspaces, and when lit from within at night would serve as a much-needed focal point for the Bo’ness skyline which wraps around the site. This will illuminate the exterior close and ‘social plinth’ that I have proposed, sustaining a safe and enjoyable atmosphere into darker times of the year. Symbolically, my proposal contrasts with the heavy stone surrounding it and creates engaging spaces which highlights the union between old and new. I was inspired by this technique after researching Steven Holl Architects’ Nelson-Atkin Museum, which seems to include light in its material palette. 19

Stage 3 Introduction by Kristy Lees “Being inclusive, ethical, environmentally aware and collaborative underpin (our) strategic objectives and all that we do.” Advancing Architecture, RIBA Strategic Plan 2016-2020 The design process is a creative collaboration involving many experts in their field who continue to become more specialized than ever. A successful collaboration should bring the best of everyone’s knowledge of a particular specialism to bear and push the extents and depth of knowledge, of all concerned. Architecture is collaborative. The design process requires architects to collaboratively, negotiate, sustain and modify a project throughout its evolution, allowing parameters, unknown at the outset, to shape and form the response. There needs to be an opportunity for people to think together, valuing each other’s perspective and contributions, in order for creative new ideas to emerge. The semester 2 task therefore attempts to simulate practice by demonstrating that an interdisciplinary approach is required to meet specific design criteria determined by a client’s brief. Design teams, formed of students from the disciplines of architecture, engineering and quantity surveying, worked collaboratively on a live competition to design a footbridge and information centre. Providing a symbolic entrance to the Gauja National Park in Latvia the competition, literally bridging the gap between education and practice, provided students with the opportunity to view the physical and professional landscape from a different perspective.

Object // Anti-Object Alice Miller Object/Anti-object is an exploration into the application of architectural theory into design. Studying initially Object Oriented Ontology I became interested in the idea of giving objects, a reality outside of human perception and intervention. With Its application in architecture it becomes more complex with Harmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s belief that object architecture has no responsibility to wider context or the users and simply becomes justification for itself. Realising that I did not believe in what the theory stood for I decided instead to explore the inverse; Anti-Object theory by Kengo Kuma. With this theory Kuma attempts to reverse this extreme modernist thinking by redacting the architecture into the background, blurring the lines between object and context. My design attempts to combine these theories in the architecture of a boat restoration centre to create an experience where by the boat journey and restoration process is the foremost priority. The creation of a framework within which the spaces can move ensures that the process is never compromised and can be altered depending on the needs of the boats. The option for expansion also means that the building is not constrained in a singular time context and can adapt also to the changing needs of society; serving both object and antiobject theories. The ever changing organisation of the structure will create a complex relationship between user and object with no one experience of the building a concluding moment of the potential of the architecture. Its beauty lies in its functionality and complex ever-changing nature and continues to question the relationship between ourselves and the objects. 30

The Clyde Laboratory Charles Dunn Sitting low, west of the harbour, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Clyde Laboratoryâ&#x20AC;? is rooted in its landscape. Responding to the view south of the river, its form is closely related to the tectonics of the site and in turn allows the visitor to engage directly with the contour of the land. Subtle changes in level serve to further root the building to the site. A lightweight, glazed central colonnade acts as a visual slipway into the water and out to the view beyond while also connecting the five main masses. A liminal quality is explored in the transition from corridor to solid mass, playing with shelter and exposure and continually referencing the surrounding landscape. By exploring sacred typologies, there is an attempt to consider the various functions and spaces of the building as instead ritualistic, sacred spaces and in doing so create a building which calmly and quietly responds to and inhabits its surroundings. A fluted facade is reminiscent of a sea wall, reinforcing and suggesting mass, firmness and grounding the building to the land. 34

European Architecture Students Assembly “The European Architecture Students Assembly (EASA) is a platform for exchange of ideas and knowledge for European students of Architecture. It’s not a non-political and non-profit based network aimed at bringing people together. The essence of EASA is maintained by ‘EASA spirit’ - easy to feel but difficult to describe.” (Extract from “The EASA guide 2017”) In conversation with Alice Miller, current Scottish National Contact (NC) and Fraser Birtwistle, former NC, MacMag’s Lida O’Shea learns about the event’s past, present and future. Tell me a little bit about EASA and why in your opinion it’s a platform which architecture students should join? Fraser: EASA is a meeting of 500 architecture students from across Europe in the summer for two weeks, doing workshops. Alice: It happens in different countries across Europe every year. F: Yes, different country every year, there’s about 50 countries represented. And each year Scotland sends a team to the event. Basically it’s allowing you to do architecture in a different way to how it is within architecture school. You can physically build things and see them realised within a short time span. It’s not the same hierarchical system of education; it’s students coming together, trying to design or solve a problem. A: I’d say it gives an opportunity to think about architecture in ways that I wouldn’t normally expect to visit, for example architecture as performance pieces or exploring it in a much more theoretical sense; whereas in EASA you have the opportunity to do that as well as traditional associations of architecture like 1:1 build and design. What has been your favourite EASA location so far? Fraser: My favourite EASA was my first EASA in 2016 in Lithuania, a country that you wouldn’t normally visit. It was in Nida, a sand spit that enclosed a lagoon. It was an interesting environment to work in because it was in a way natural and unnatural. These moving sand-dunes have been planted with forest to try and stop the towns getting covered in sand. And it was such an alien environment, basically quite bizarre to work in, it was something quite new to me. So, let’s talk about last summer, the RE-EASA in Croatia. Alice: I guess the idea of RE:EASA was to think more about your impact but also of EASA as a whole because, 500 students descending on a small town can be of huge effect. It made you think about waste producing and alternative ways of approach for the workshops. Fraser: RE as a prefix tends to be things like simple recycling or reusing, but it’s also interpreted as a reflection on what you do as an architect. So it was a question of looking again at how we do X, Y or Z as we step forward. And the upcoming EASA Tourist, do you think it ties in with the heritage of previous year’s theme? Alice: I think it ties in really well because again, it’s about your impact going into a place. Sometimes on EASA we talk about how we’re going to go in and do these interventions, help regenerate the local community, but actually, we’re only there for two weeks, there’s only so much you can take in about the place and decide that ok, I’m going to approach it in this way, whereas EASA Tourist is all about seeing your impact literally as a tourist. 36

easa

Tell me about this year’s location, is it ‘touristy’? Fraser: Yes, intentionally it has to be touristy. It’s the idyll of Swiss mountain landscape, which in reality is an environment heavily manicured for the tourist, and Switzerland, in the context of Global Warming is having to deal with the problem of not getting much snow. Makes you question, what tourism is, how do we sustain how we live. It’s a big question for the country and for us generally. This year MacMag focuses on the themes of Order & Chaos, speaking of which, what is your opinion on the upcoming EASA in Switzerland & in particular its itinerary? Alice: The whole idea of us moving location half way through the event is amazing as a concept but what’s it going to be logistically? Fraser: Taking your workshop, belongings, sleeping bag; up a mountain, that’s going to be challenging. But it’s part of the fun. Chaos isn’t necessarily a bad thing. EASA is naturally chaotic because it’s run by architecture students, not event managers or professionals; it’s just: let’s go, have a go and we’ll see what happens. A: It will be interesting to see how the Swiss will try to impose some kind of order onto that. How they’re going to try and tame this chaos; because if anything, knowing that it’s going to happen mid way through will influence the way it’s run. What’s your advice for people applying to EASA and those who do get to go? Alice: In terms of applying, some people get caught up in the professionalism of it and actually it should be more about fun, about interpreting the brief in a slightly different way to make it stand out. Fraser: What comes through is people who are really keen, excited; it’s not necessarily the perfect student. A: People just need to put themselves out there, as there’s only so much information you can give someone about EASA before they go, because it’s really one of those things that you have to experience and you really only truly understand it when you get there. You have to be aware that you’re kind of throwing yourself in the deep end. Don’t expect anything. F: As an NC you try and read between the lines, choosing someone that is going to get on with people, work hard and keep up the reputation of EASA Scotland. Can you try to describe EASA spirit? Alice: Do you remember when you felt or got EASA spirit? Fraser: I love and hate this term. A: EASA spirit? Why? I believe in it, do you believe in it? Lida: Yes, I believe in it. F: The concept is a feeling about collective production, kinship, socialising, partying! A: I think it’s a lot about selflessness as well, when you feel like a part of the community. F: Ah yes, that’s it. It’s a sense of being part of something bigger.

Images courtesy of Alexandra Kononchenko.

EASA 2019 will be held in Villars-sur-Ollon (CH) between the 26.07.2019 -11.08.2019 with the theme Tourist. 37

Stage 4 Introduction by Robert Mantho Semester 2 for Stage 4 is centred around the exploration of a public building within the context of central Glasgow, carrying on the MSAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tradition of the Urban Building. The students will work on expanding the theme of semester 1, considering those aspects of civic life which are not directly tied to economic exchange, but which are critical to social coherence. The students will work in the Broomielaw district of Glasgow and relate their Urban Building design work to the investigations of Tradeston completed in semester 1. Semester 2 is designed to help students build on the skills and knowledge acquired in semester 1, to reinforce their ability to identify research topics and clarify their design thinking in articulated theses in preparation for Stage 5 and the task of the Final Design Thesis.

Agonistic Urbanism Joshua Page Agonistic Urbanism is formed on the reading of the city as a heterogeneous collection of societies, each with its own culture. Our collective society and civic spaces are a product of the overlapping and exchange of these separate societies. In an increasingly globalised and internationally accessible world, the diversity of these societies becomes over more important. Inherently, with greater diversity comes conflicting ideas, beliefs and values. This is part of our human condition and we cannot escape it. A civic space must open for inhabitation by anyone, and allow for these conflicts to occur in an agonistic form. It should embrace and highlight them, in pursuit of ultimately becoming a place where our differences can gather. The building is formed through the hybridisation of two programmes; the community centre and the civic theatre. The theatre programme is separated into three specific functional spaces: the civic theatre, pedagogical theatre, and debate chamber. These different platforms present an opportunity for debate and discussion, from high to low culture. These places of exchange are met with smaller informal places to meet in the community centre. These two programmes are overlapped and compressed in one building; providing the opportunity for agonistic exchange across the breadth of values in the city. 42

stage 4

Clydeport Register Office Adam Spreckley Traditionally, the cemetery has existed as a means to dispose of the dearly departed, within sites typically located on the peripheries of our towns and cities. The industrialisation of our cities over the past 2 centuries has seen our cemeteries swallowed up by rapid urban growth and densification creating awkward, juxtaposing civic relationships with the process of death, burial and/or cremation. This prompts the need for a new typology in order to re-integrate the cemetery into a 21st century, urban context. My Thesis proposal takes the form of new Register Office for Broomielaw. The proposed building typology allows for a series of different public ceremonies to take place with the integration of a series of informal public spaces located predominantly off-street. The building features a careful juxtaposition with an integrated crematorium facility and a public Columbarium (a facility for storing cremated ashes). The Columbarium dictates the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structural grid and re-consolidates the typical Glasgow city block in an under-developed part of the city centre. Coupled with a considered approach to materials, construction techniques and the harnessing of natural light, the building represents a fine-tuned symbiotic relationship between architecture and technology.

CAD-BLOCK. COM

special research projects

GKC and Soane A live project generated with the Sir John Soane Museum (London) to curate an exhibition of architectural models of GKC’s work. The Gillespie Kidd and Coia Special Project looks at models as vehicles to physically reveal some key ideas and preoccupations regarding entry, structure, light and detail. The question of how the essence of a building can be represented in a physical medium of different material qualities and abstracted from context, is explored in different ways Andrew Lang This model study, carried out on several of Gillespie Kidd and Coia’s churches, was based on a line of inquiry which was uncovered through a process of building models and reflecting on what each one made revealed. The project looks to model specific aspects of each building’s character, and considers how the models might capture the essence of the architecture, in each case, through as minimal means as possible. The question then that sets the basis for the research project is as follows: how reductive can a model be to tell the story of a building? Each model acts as a manifestation of the thoughts and reflections that were constantly being evaluated, and sits as a fragment of a more extensive exploration. The research project considers and reflects on how models can offer an existence that is far more open to interpretation than perhaps the architecture affords, and portray an element of the essence of a building to the beholder.

St Pauls

St Benedicts: frame

Our Lady

St Benedicts: beam

St Benedicts

Stage 5 Introduction by Miranda Webster Through the careful alignment of timetabled teaching activities, external review critics, iteration of thesis synopsis, weekly critical reflection and peer review, the aim is to structure the final year to allow the students to be able to develop a robust working methodology, in order to follow the line of enquiry they have established through their thesis investigations. For many students, this is the first time they have had to find a site and develop a brief to support a research question, and for some it is the continuation of research ideas carried through from stage 4. Allowing them a supported freedom, should be considered essential, in supporting the development of independent, intelligent thinkers, to be carried though into practice, whichever form this may take.

Sound

touch / hapticity

sight

smell

taste Traditional Flemish

Every year in Brussels, a carpet of potted begonias is laid out in the main square, in a new pattern each year. It’s a spectacle.

Waterzooi (Fish Stew)

1 x finely sliced onion

Begonia Tuberhybrida

1 x finely sliced leek A tomato ripened naturally over time in the sun will be juicier more flavoursome than one forceripened in a greenhouse using ethylene gas.

Chervil

The same could be said for civic design.

Anthriscus cerefolium

A Civic Living Room: On the Importance of Being Idle

Beth Dutson

3.5oz Mussels 10.5oz Potatoes cracked black pepper

Lavandula 1. Boil the potatoes in salt water 5oz Fillet Plaice

2. Heat butter and soften celery, carrot and onion for 3-5 mins

1 x sliced carrot 1 celery stalk

3. Add the leeks cook for 2 mins 4. Add stock infuse for 5 mins

Prints taken from the patterns on 1970’s metal and enamel door handles around the northern part of the city are re-interpreted as plans at an urban scale.

5. Gently poach the fish fillets in the broth for 3-5 minutes 6. Add the mussels after 1 minute 7. When the mussels open up, remove the seafood 8. Whisk an egg yolk with cream

From Macro to Micro - the city to the door handle

9. Mix into the stock to thicken and create a sauce The recipe for seef Bier was rediscovered in old recipes after 100 years of not being available, and is now brewed in a newly renovated building in the cadix neighbourhood, 1 minute from Kattendijkdok.

10. Add peeled shrimp and other seafood 11. Garnish with chives

MAke a splash

‘PANIEK’ translates to Panic... this bar and cafe is smuggled into the corner of an old port warehouse, which is full to the brim with caravans, motorbikes, carnival stage sets... and some good beers. An oasis of jittery microrebellion hanging onto the fringes of a developing neighbourhood.

MAAS + The Westkaai residential towers

3-4. David Chipperfield

5-6. Tony Fretton

Zaha Hadid designs the Port HQ in the shape of a giant diamond.

A patchwork City

1-2. Diener and Diener

“The Door Handle is the Handshake of a Building” Juhani Pallasmaa

THE BATH HOUSE

Public baths facilitate the gathering of a community in an intimate and relaxed environment, centred around ritual and immersion. In a busy and distracted society, the bath house provides a sanctuary for self care, away from the incessant pace of the outside world. The plans of the Ottoman Hammam and the Roman bath house would be centred around a pool or hot stone slab, and organised with comfort and the ritual of cleansing in mind, guiding the visitor from one experiential space to the next. Similarly, this bath house is centred around a hot pool, with smaller, more intimate spaces wrapping the perimeter.

Ground Floor

1. Lobby 2. Waiting room 3. Vanity room 4. Changing rooms 5. Showers 6. Hot tub 7. Steam room 8. Hot plunge pool 9. Cold plunge pool 10. Pump room 11. Staff rooms

Using a critical framework of phenomenology, I am looking to create a sensory architecture which responds to the human condition by stimulating more than just the eye, in an attempt to engage the user with their social context in a meaningful way. Working between the micro and the macro, a large scale building is proposed, with attention to detail, materiality and hapticity. The neighbourhood of Het Eilandje to the north of Antwerp is yet to be fully realised. What was once a thriving dock area is readily being developed, with the typology of the dense residential block taking precedent. What the area currently lacks, despite the presence of 6 towers by well known architects, and a Zaha Hadid port headquarters building, is soul. The neighbourhood is in close proximity to Antwerp’s city centre yet at this point has no defined cultural and civic centre. The location for my proposal is on the south end of the Kattendijkdok, alongside Londonbruug on Amsterdamstraat. Here, it acts as both a threshold between the old city and the new Het Eilandje (South and North), and a bridge between the divided Westkaai towers and the Cadix neighbourhood (West and East), whilst offering a better connection with a large body of water.

THE AUDITORIUM

Entertainment is a primary incentive for positive public gathering and revelry. The auditorium and performance building provides a facility for shows, talks, music events and debates, with space to rehearse and prepare. The plan is permeable, with the stage at its core.

6 7

8 10 2

8 4

1 2

Ground Floor 1. Lobby 2. Bar + rehearsal space 3. Prop store 4. Kitchen 5. Staff room + store 6. Auditorium 7. Access to gallery 8. Backstage

First Floor 3

1. Dry sauna 2. Wet sauna 3. Showers 4. Tepidarium (39º) 5. Massage rooms 6. South facing terrace 7. Bar 8. Store

Scale 1:200

North ^

First Floor 1. Set and costume production 2. Rehearsal studio 3. Access to deck 4. Access to terrace

Scale 1:200

North ^

1 1

7 4 3

stage 5

The proposal is for a civic â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;living roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of sorts. Where the home was once a sanctuary distinct from the workplace, home life and labour begin to merge with the development of technology. The ways that we eat, buy, consume media and communicate are commodified by Amazon, UberEats etc. Without the need to even visit shops, let alone civic buildings, social alienation increases. By taking the elements of a traditional home and assigning them a civic program, I aim to design a building which acts as a framework for social ties, and accommodates all manner of day to day activities which are often no longer prioritised within residential design. The senses also help to define the program; hapticity, smell, taste, proprioception and acoustics are the catalysing elements in the formation of architectural spaces throughout the building. Civic buildings are traditionally intimidating projections of state power, elaborate and grandiose. As an antithesis to both this notion and the branded architecture around Kattendijkdok, the Public House will be human scale, accessible and non-elitist, offering the growing community a secular and inclusive home away from home.

THE dining room

The kitchen, cafe or bar is always the heart of any place. As we all need to eat, a communal kitchen and canteen can become the epicentre of a community, and a place for people of all demographics to rub shoulders. With an open bar and kitchen at the epicentre of the dining hall, and a mezzenine gallery looking down from above, smells and sounds can permeate every corner of the building and bring it to life. Upstairs, a classroom for cookery lessons provides an opportunity for the community to be involved in more than just the eating, and in the south facing part of the gallery alongside, herbs and vegetables can be grown for use in the kitchen.

THE Library

The library is a space to learn, play, discover, explore and hide away too. Access to the gallery and a cafe is via the ground floor, whereas the library is accessible via a sweeping staircase, lifting the visitor out of the busy courtyard and into a more tranquil space. At the heart of the library, beneath a sky-lit tower, a cosy story telling area is nestled, on an island of its own. Low mezzanine floors allow access to the book collections, and quiet study spaces can be found within the tower with views down the dock towards the new ports.

Ground Floor

1. Entrance 2. Lobby 3. Staff room 4. Library 5. Gallery access 6. Gift shop 7. Cloakroom 8. Mini auditorium 9. Cafe

1. Entrance 2. Bar 3. Dining room 4. Bar and open kitchen 5. Kitchen 6. Store 7. Cloakroom

5 3

2 4

First Floor

First Floor 1. Terrace 2. Cookery classroom

Scale 1:200

1. Entrance 2. Reception 3. Book returns 4. Group study 5. Reading space 6. Story telling 7. Bookshelves

North ^ Scale 1:200

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North ^ 7

Kilnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Across Antwerpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ringland Hannah Dawood The city of Antwerp is amongst the top fifty regions in the world affected by air pollution. This is largely due to its dependence on vehicles, specifically the R1 ring road that cuts through the city and separates districts. A solution to this problem has been identified as the Ringland project which proposes to move the motorway underground and cover the tunnel with a green canopy. However, the flaws within the scheme lie in the potentially anti - social spaces of a linear park as well as, the ineffectiveness to address the air pollution still emitted from vehicles within the tunnel. The proposal firstly sets out planning principals to apply to the Ringland to ensure a structured connection to the inner and outer city. The site, located where the railway intersects the Ringland, is the most utilised intersection by the public. The scheme addresses the built-up pollution within the tunnels by introducing a biochar production facility. Which is the process that sequesters carbon particle matter from the atmosphere using only organic matter produced within kilns. The bi-product itself 62

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can be used in various applications from construction products to a soil amendment. The build identifies nodes that have been divided by the motorway and stitches the urban fabric creating a bridge between districts. The industrial process changes the dichotomy of what is a traditional factory model by incorporating the public in the production process. The building plays on the whimsy and wonder of industry, playing with arrangement of public spaces and production servicing, experimenting with the biochar kilns and machinery within a structural grid. The kilns therefore become a monument to the Ringland, giving the place a sense of identity.

Can the re-contextualisation of the textile industry and the activation of urban corners, allow an ever-shifting community to recognise the same space as their own, ultimately promoting integration within divided communities? Lucie Peacock This thesis explores the role of architecture in creating a situational identity in today’s fragmented contemporary city. Using themes of weaving and layering, derived from the notion of ‘the patchwork city’, to develop an architectural language. Embodying the many identities of Antwerp and engaging with the wider network of the city. The northern districts of Antwerp have tackled issues of social deprivation and isolation over the past decade, with one of the biggest challenges being the integration of migrants into the residential community. The patchwork morphology of the city creates divided districts, with a distinct lack of cohesion. Seefhoek, is reflective of multiple identities, inhabited by a diverse range of ethnic and religious groups, all attempting to find representation within their environment. These individual identities tend to get lost or diluted. Through the analysis of the urban fabric of the city, its streets, plots, blocks and places of congregation, this thesis aims to create and strengthen a situational identity for the inhabitants of Seefhoek, weaving multiple cultures together, by providing a number of accessible public facilities, embedded within the district. The proposal will re-contextualise and celebrate the fragments of the city’s textile

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industry, aiming to provide a framework for the future of Seefhoek by instilling craftsmanship and skill within the community, addressing the current unemployment crisis. Manifested in the patchwork morphology of the city, the strands of each culture are woven to create a situational identity and celebrate the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s industrial heritage. The urban interventions are located along the main arterial route through the centre of Seefhoek, Diepestraat. The proposal occupies three prominent corner sites, each corner acting as a node within the district. This series of nodes then form the spine of the district and establish a new public centre. The proposed interventions form cross roads of culture and communication, encouraging encounter and exchange. The architectural intent of the intervention will be focused around layering of material, light and sculptural forms, supporting and celebrating the creative programme within. The programme will consist of three key typologies; community education, production studios and archival exhibition. Through investigating the theme of layering and the patchwork city, a cohesive architectural language is created.

Precast concrete parapet cap Building underlay Timber wedge to support flashing (5Â° min slope) Breather membrane Vapour barrier Cast in situ concrete column Zinc flashing 250mm tapered edge insulation board Drain with fall to downpipe Waterproof membrane 240mm cast in situ concrete slab 200mm suspended ceiling cavity Steel suspended ceiling hanger

35mm internal ceiling finish 02

Pigmented precast concrete panel Stainless steel hook and rail system 140mm insulation Waterproof membrane Cavity tray 250m cast in situ concrete 25mm internal finish

16mm Raised timber floor finish 50mm x 50mm timber battens 80mm screed

Underfloor heating system 35mm Acoustic insulation 400 mm concrete cast in situ coffered slab 04

Brick special - pistol brick Weep vent Ancon brick anchor Pigmented precast concrete lintel Double-glazed unit Powder-coated aluminium frame Fixing for window frame Facing brickwork Brick ties to concrete structure 190mm cavity

140mm insulation Waterproof membrane 250m cast in situ concrete structure 25mm internal finish 05

25mm concrete paving slabs Cavity tray Pigmented precast concrete plinth Concrete back filled cavity gap 140mm insulation Fixing for window frame Powder-coated aluminium frame Double-glazed unit Internal timber reveal 250m cast in situ concrete structure 25mm internal finish

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16mm Raised timber floor finish 50mm x 50mm timber battens 80mm screed Underfloor heating system 35mm Acoustic insulation 400 mm Concrete cast in situ slab Waterproof membrane 140 mm insulation