Unit 1 is focussed on the emotional potential of material construction and architectonic space. We are interested in buildings that derive their power from essential characteristics of human habitation and provide strong frameworks for social community together with private refuge.

This year we will continue our study of buildings that can accommodate programmes of dwelling, work and civic life, with a focus on housing typologies. These buildings constitute the vast majority of our cities and form the structure of how we live together in society.

We will embed environmental strategies in our proposals with clear, long-term, architectural thinking.

How can we address the heightening climate crisis while making buildings that offer strong contributions to the common ground of the city? What is the appropriate way for us to respond as architects to the ecological and political crisis that we are now living in?

We want to question what it really means to build today.