Unit 2 + Unit 5 is a new breed of Unit, bringing together the interests and processes of two Units.

Unit 5 asks students to first learn about themselves. What interests you? And how do you learn? We want to see your passion, intuition and intellect.
Drawing / constructed image / photograph / model are all to be seen as both tools of practice and as sites of construction, surfaces to be assembled. Consider their potential to test unexpected relationships, test spatial geometries, actual and implied scales and materials.

Architects draw because they want to see their ideas. There are rules and there is structure to an architectural drawing, but you are encouraged to develop a greater identity. A physical, intensely material occurrence or something that just ‘occurs’ and turns into a condition for the project. Drawing is the focus for Unit 5.

Unit 2 explores a design development primarily through the making / crafting of physical models that lead into the crafting of drawings and spaces. In this Unit, the act of making sophisticated models and drawings is the premise and method that we use to test ideas, explore solutions, and communicate our designs.

We are interested in the tactilities of architecture, tectonics, and physicalities of buildings and space. Students in Unit 2 are encouraged to engage in the physical act of model-making as a primary design tool. We see the model as not just a ‘final presentation’ device, but rather as a highly coveted way of working and thinking that can lead to complex propositions and architectures.

Models are the departure point for Unit 2.

The Rogue Film School

Inspired by Werner Herzog’s ‘Rogue Film School’ which operates as an informal platform for film makers and storytellers offering not technical understanding of films, but rather guerrilla tactics and encouragement for mavericks, this year Unit 2 + Unit 5 will look at alternative approaches, disruptive thinking, and unorthodox techniques.

We will ask students to speculate / hypothesize on interests, habits, methodologies for alternative and disruptive ways of thinking. These could be fantastical or grounded, but all hypothesis must be based on research. Research in Unit 2 + Unit 5 is conducted through ‘making’: making models, making drawings, making collages, making diagrams.

Site – The ‘Northbank’

Having undergone a rebranding exercise, the area to the immediate north of the river Thames connecting parliament to the city, stretching from Trafalgar Square along the Strand to Temple, is now known as the Northbank – a counterpoint to London’s South Bank on the opposing side of the river Thames. If the South Bank is perceived as being a place of cultural consumption Unit 2 + Unit 5 will see the Northbank as a place for making culture. We are particularly interested in exploring how student projects could be disguised and embedded amongst the Northbank heritage and urban context.
We will ask students to investigate the nature of the Northbank, what makes this place unique, if the Northbank could dream, what would it want to be?

Term1

Students will be asked develop a small scale building, a spatial proposition on their interpretation of what a ‘Rogue Film School’ means.
Y2 – The Rogue Film School
Y3 – The ‘X’ School – we will be asking 3rd year students to define their subject matter and what their interpretation of ‘school’ means to them.

Students will be expected to design a small scale spatial proposition (Pavilion size) and will be encouraged to represent this through physical models and drawings at the end of term 1.

This small scale proposal will be the seed that leads onto terms 2 + 3.

We will commence the year with a series of production workshops.

Term 2 + 3:

Students will be asked to develop their term 1 research and positions into a medium – large scale building proposition.
Taking the key themes of the ‘Rogue School’ project forward, Students will be asked to expand their design vocabulary. Students will be encouraged to develop proposals through physical models and complex drawings.

Students will be designing the atmosphere, ambience, experience, aesthetics, logistics, and tectonics of a ‘Rogue School’.

This year Unit 2 + Unit 5 will explore the image as a powerful tool of communication – the static image, and the moving image.
Unit 2 + Unit 5 will look to animate models and drawings through film, projection, narrative and storytelling. The making, crafting, and documentation of drawings and models will be championed and valued. The construction of the models and drawings should also be documented to form a valuable part of your portfolio.

JW+PG+SR _ September 2018