Chris Singh_Y5 |Unit 14 | Bartlett School of Architecture

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REVIVAL OF THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS

CHRIS SINGH YEAR 5

UNIT

Y5 CS

CIRCUS NOVUM

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All work produced by Unit 14 Cover design by Maggie Lan www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2018 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

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CHRIS SINGH YEAR 5 chrisjamessingh@gmail.com chrisjamessingh.com

C I R C U S N OV U M Revival of the Circus Maximus Rome, Italy

venue with wild hunts, executions, Roman battle re-enact¬ments serving as spectacles in addition to chariot racing. Today, its ruins are exposed, but the open space serves as mass gathering location, hosting concerts and other public events.

Y5 CS

T

he project intends to revive The Circus Maximus, a Roman chariot racing stadium as a proto¬type for proactive architectural progression and challenge existing conservation attitudes to¬wards the ancient relics of Rome. In the spirit of UNIT14’s agenda of pioneering sentiment, the project commences with an investigation into the Futurist manifesto, a pioneering movement that expressed and glorified the democratisation of technology, speed, movement, with a dis¬taste of museums or representations of the past. Futurism, founded by Italian poet F.T. Marinetti in 1909 was a response to Italy’s lack of technological progress relative to other European su¬perpowers post industrial revolution. The manifesto was rejected for being too right wing for mainstream Rome. Although the First World War proved to be the end of the lives of many Fu¬turist disciples, it was that war which proved to be the catalyst for advanced technologies be¬coming democratised. Examples such as Piaggio among other automotive Italian companies utilised the evolution of technology as a sense of Italian nationalism and identity to produce icons such as the Vespa. The Vespa became a symbol of a new Italian identity, serving as a technological and economical act of defiance amid post WW2 socioeconomic depression.

The proposal attempts to question the development of that next program phase in the form of a Piaggio electric test track. The stadium would also allow for other events such as concerts and other forms of motor racing disciplines. The design strategy utilises the historic site parameters (the exposed ruins, Rome Forum and Aventine/Palatine Hills) to drive the geometry. The asymmetry of the stand heights are for the protection of views to the Forum, providing an opportunity for a larger concentration of spectators due it’s prime seating location.

The seating elements of the building try to break away from the typical bowl, with fragmentations occurring to allow pockets of program. The juxtaposition strategy between ancient and new is of an imposing nature, yet follows the form of the existing in a controlled manner. Further excavation to reveal the ruins would be housed underneath an undulating roof, protecting the ruins from weathering whilst being part of the rac¬ing infrastructure above. This is consistent in pit stops being re-appropriated within existing ruins.

The relics of the Circus Maximus within the historic centre of Rome became the initial de¬sign driver for the project. The stadium, in the same spirit as Piaggio, adapted with the times in regards to program and tectonics. First constructed in Timber in AD49, it was destroyed by the Great Fire of Rome in AD64. The next iteration was constructed with travertine stone as fire resistance technologies came into play. Once holding 150,000 people during the Ro¬man Empire, it was a mixed use

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All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Maggie Lan www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2018 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.

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P I O N E E R I N G S E N T I M E N T

2018

At the centre of Unit 14’s academic exploration lies Buckminster Fuller’s ideal of the ‘The Comprehensive Designer’, a master-builder that follows Renaissance principles and a holistic approach. Fuller referred to this ideal of the designer as somebody who is capable of comprehending the ‘integrateable significance’ of specialised findings and is able to realise and coordinate the commonwealth potentials of these discoveries while not disappearing into a career of expertise.

Like Fuller, we are opportunists in search of new ideas and their benefits via architectural synthesis.

As such Unit 14 is a test bed for exploration and innovation, examining the role of the architect in an environment of continuous change. We are in search of the new, leveraging technologies, workflows and modes of production seen in disciplines outside our own. We test ideas systematically by means of digital as well as physical drawings, models and prototypes. Our work evolves around technological speculation with a research-driven core, generating momentum through astute synthesis.

Our propositions are ultimately made through the design of buildings and through the in-depth consideration of structural formation and tectonic constituents. This, coupled with a strong research ethos, generates new and unprecedented, viable and spectacular proposals. They are beautiful because of their intelligence - extraordinary findings and the artful integration of those into architecture.

This year’s UNIT 14 focus shifts onto examining moments of pioneering sentiment. We find out about how human endeavor, deep desire and visionary thought interrelate and advance cultural as well as technological means while driving civilisation as highly developed organisation. Supported by competent research we search for the depicted pioneering sentiment and amplify found nuclei into imaginative tales with architectural visions fuelled by speculation.

The underlying principle and observation of our investigations is that futurist speculation inspires and ultimately brings about significant change. A prominent thinker is the Californian Syd Mead who envisages and has scripted a holistic vision of the future with his designs and paintings.

As universal as our commitment and thoughts is our testbed and territory for our investigations and proposals. Possible sites are as such global or specific to our visits, as much as the individual investigations suggest and opportunities arrive. Unit 14 is supported by a working relationship with innovators across design. We engage specialists, but remain generalists, synthesising knowledge towards novel ways of thinking, making and communicating architecture.

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All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Maggie Lan www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2018 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.