MA Achitecture and Urbanism

from AVA Architecture + Design Yearbook 2018

Unit 8

MRes Architecture

Reading the Neoliberal City

Anna Minton Programme Leader

Anna Minton, author of Big Capital and Ground Control, also published by Penguin, is the Programme Leader on the MRes Architecture. This multidisciplinary course, sited within the architecture department, welcomes applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. While situated in London’s Docklands, the global impact of these processes, which are relevant across the world, provides the context.

The course is comprised of four modules: Reading the neoliberal city; Psychogeography and Situationism; Ethical Development and the Digital City. Topics for study include the housing crisis and the privatisation of cities, investigating the financialisation of the urban environment, polarisation and the consequences for citizens in terms of trust and fear. The modules on Ethical Development and the Digital City focus on potential alternatives to the neoliberal city and the modules on Psychogeography and Situationism and the Digital City are also offered to Diploma students choosing Critical Writing for their Theory component. Anna is joined on the academic team by Tony Fretton, principal of Tony Fretton architects, who is a thesis supervisor and Debra Shaw, Reader in Cultural Theory, who teaches on the Digital City module.

Guest lecturers are a key component of the course and include politicians, leading industry figures and activists. We have an ongoing collaboration with Sian Berry, chair of the housing group at the Greater London Authority. During 2016, Anna was awarded a Leverhulme Artist in Residence grant to work with Alberto Duman who was artist in residence on the MRes.

For more information contact: Anna Minton, Reader in Architecture & Programme Leader a.minton@uel.ac.uk

MA Architecture and Urbanism

Fulvio Wirz Programme Leader Stratis Georgiou Digital Fabrication and Robotics Tutor

The MA in Architecture and Urbanism has been focusing on three main strands of research: Computational architecture, Urban Design and Heritage. The flagship Computational architecture builds upon UEL legacy of world-leading form generation through computational design explored through the work of the university’s late senior lecturer, Paul Coates. This involves using parametric and objectoriented design methodologies seamlessly with rapid manufacturing and visualization techniques available within the school. MA students developed their projects following a shared agenda with MArch Unit 4 working on a coastal stretch of the Gulf of Naples. Students have been working in teams on a masterplan developing a shared modular design system which can dynamically adapt to different scales: the urban one of the waterfront and the architectural one of the attractor buildings which have been individually developed during the second term. Topics like Advanced Architectural Design, Parametric Urban Design, Digital Manufacturing have been developed across the year following a common digital platform which simulates the state of the art of design processes in contemporary architectural practices. The goal was to experiment new possibilities for architectural spaces and cities connecting the design to advanced fabrication techniques and sustainable strategies in order to generate a research leading to a secure impact in the industry.