The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
About the School of Architecture and Cities
Location London W1 | Courses BA (Hons) Architecture, BSc (Hons) Architecture and Environmental Design, MArch | Head of school Harry Charrington | Full-time tutors 35 | Part-time tutors 78 | Students 1,200 | Staff to student ratio 1:15
Undergraduate
Adelina Ivan
Course BA (Hons) Architecture
Studio/unit brief Island Cities (DS3.4)
Project title Collective Harvesting
Project description Southend-on-Sea seems to be drifting away from the raw, traditional coastal character of the surrounding area. This project proposes to reclaim the area of Clarence Road Car Park as a place for learning, growing and making. By integrating urban farming, communal cooking and dining, library and workshop spaces, the project aims to become a new ‘piazza’ for the city – to heal its ‘wounds’ by integrating nature, engaging the community and preserving tradition and craft. A thatched roof becomes the focus of the built form for circularity. It is cultivated within agricultural zones, harvested for roofing and insulation, then replanted with vegetables.
Tutor citation Adelina’s drawings are characterised by the framing of the intimate and every day. Just like a Constable landscape, the final picturesque drawings centre around people, making you think differently about the modern role of landscape. Paolo Zaide, Tom Budd
Postgraduate
Estera Badelita
Course MArch
Studio/unit brief Revealing the Wonders of the Walled Garden (DS22)
Project title The Watchmen in the Trees: A Garden of Protection
Project description Addressing the catastrophic destruction of forests, this project sheds light on the often-disregarded worth of abandoned settlements in Gherdeal, Transylvania. This village has experienced severe depopulation, leaving only seven people protecting its architectural and natural heritage. The project proposes a protective belt around the village, engaging with its people and the species occupying the forest. Measures range from bear alarms to wooden structures that naturally degrade to capture beetles, and nests encircling watching platforms, trading walls, workshops and watch towers.
Tutor citation This project is made unique by its research-by-design approach. It builds on the notion of social and environmental ecology to demonstrate how architecture can construct conditions to protect the community and landscape alike. Nasser Golzari, Yara Sharif