Tag: Architect

Book Launch: “The Wessex Project: Thomas Hardy, Architect” by DS15 tutor Kester Rattenbury, Architectural Association Bookshop, Tuesday 19th June, 18:30-20:30

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

When: Tuesday 19th June 2018, 18:30-20:30

Where: The Architectural Association Bookshop, 32 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES

THE WESSEX PROJECT: THOMAS HARDY, ARCHITECT

by Kester Rattenbury, Published by Lund Humphries, 2018

Who is the most famous member of the Architectural Association, past or present? Rem Koolhaas? Richard Rogers? Peter Cook? Or maybe Thomas Hardy: poet, novelist, architect; and creator of one of the most famous part-real, part-imagined realms the world has seen?

The Wessex Project: Thomas Hardy, Architect by Kester Rattenbury is the first in-depth study of Hardy’s work by an architectural critic, and it opens a startling new perspective on this world-famous author. Through it, we begin to see Hardy as someone who never gave up architecture: not just as a highly architectural writer, but as someone experimenting in all kinds of representation, including drawing, mapping, photography, stage design and writing; not just as a seminal English storyteller, but as England’s most influential conservation campaigner too; not just as a leading voice in literature, but as the creator of one of the greatest ever conceptual architectural projects.

Kester Rattenbury is Professor of Architecture at the University of Westminster. This book offers both a new way of looking at Hardy’s great works and an exploration of the how architects see, imagine, and work.

A Site Diary Project

Posted on by Mirna Pedalo

Site Diary is a twelve-week module run by the Technical Studies team and it’s a part of the 2nd year BA’s curriculum. The aim behind this project is to introduce the students to the construction site and the site team. The idea is to give students a chance to “witness, record and speculate on the Architect’s role in the construction process”,  as well as to help them gain first-hand experience of working on a building site.

Students work in pairs, and are expected to choose their own local building site, communicate with the job architect(s) and / or contractors, and visit the site several times over the duration of the module.

In order to provide the context, give some structure and background to the task, as well as to help students gain understanding of how operations on the site relate to the architect, client, contractor, design team and contracts, a Technical Studies team also runs a series of lectures as a part of this module.

At the end of the module students are required to hand in a document / diary containing the following:

  • An overview of the construction project addressing key questions delivered in the lecture series through graphics, text and sketches.
  • A structured photo-journal documenting the progress of works during the period of observation addressing a list of set questions.
  • Appraisal of the project in terms of Inclusive Design and the use of Digital Technology.
  • A time lapse study of part of the building construction sequence, either through a series of drawings, model or animation-scale.

Other creative ways of exploring and describing one’s experience on site are also welcome, such as this short film by Hugo Shackleton, which was part of his submission in May this year.