The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
About Central Saint Martins
Location London N1 | Courses BA (Hons) Architecture, MArch | Head of school Alex Warnock-Smith | Full-time tutors 8 | Part-time tutors 78 | Students 406 | Staff to student ratio 1:5
Undergraduate
Stephanie Ng
Course BA (Hons) Architecture
Studio/unit brief Strangers and Friction (Studio 14)
Project title Life in Common
Project description What would Woolwich, south-east London, look like if we were to feed the seeds that could initiate the growth and spread of mutual aid, solidarity and sharing? The area has become a passive site of capital extraction with local agents threatened by top-down gentrification schemes. Communities, however, are never born out of these practices, rather they are formed through grassroots initiatives. Projecting this future onto the site – Murray’s Yard – the project reimagines how an abandoned corner of the city, through five phases over 50+ years, can have the potential to blossom as a key transitory space and active frontier.
Tutor citation Stephanie’s approach is characterised by a thoughtful and incremental proposal that recognises her humble position in its evolution, highlighting the potential of a grassroots approach to community building. Annelie Kops, Louis Lupien
Postgraduate
Dilushanan Selvarajah
Course MArch
Studio/unit brief The Wanderers’ Chorus: Reimagining Tooting’s Tamil Procession (Unit 4)
Project title Urban Diasporic Disruptions
Project description This project explores the ritualistic practices of Eelam Tamils – citizens of a stateless nation – as a way of rebuilding their homeland in the diaspora. It is framed around the closure of the Amman Temple, the last temple on the border between Tooting and Mitcham, and the burning of a Hindu chariot. The proposal reintroduces the presence of the Tamil diaspora into the public realm by reimagining a lost festival which sees the people of Tooting rebuild the burnt chariot from ‘props’ disguised in everyday life, using the procession to foster their cohesion.
Tutor citation Beyond its specific locality and community, this project creates an applicable system of sustainability and ownership that reimagines and celebrates cultural identity when diaspora community rituals face potential disappearance. Adriana Cobo Corey