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This year's theme, ‘About Time’, delves into the essence of time as a fundamental component interwoven with the fabric of the universe, marked by cosmic events, celestial motions and the unfolding of existence. Time transcends cultural boundaries, influencing our perception of the past, present and future. Its enigmatic nature continues to captivate scientists, philosophers, poets and architects, fuelling fascination and inquiry.
Year 1 students embarked on their academic journey by engaging with the Petrie Museum at UCL, home to an extensive collection of 80,000 Egyptian and Sudanese artefacts. This initial project served as a reflective exploration of deeper historical periods, aiming to inform our understanding of contemporary and future challenges, such as material scarcity amid climate volatility. Students were prompted to consider how architectural craftsmanship could integrate preservation, reuse and adaptation while also innovating and creating new materials to craft spaces and reshape our environment. Each participant crafted their own ‘Atlas of the Future’, comprising drawings, models and catalogues.
For the second project, ‘Otherlands’, students collaborated on a group initiative to create six installations inspired by 12 Ancient Egyptian deities. The installations examined various dimensions of time, including daily rituals, fictional and mythical narratives, and the storytelling inherent in choreography and everyday activities. Collaborating with museum curators, conservationists and the public programme team, the installations were precisely placed within the Petrie Museum’s collection to reactivate the artifacts, while engaging the public.
The field trip to Rome, the ‘Eternal City’, became the subject for a sketching project that explored seven elements: Time, Topography, Vistas, Water, Light, Geometry and Erosion. These elements were integral to the development of the third and final project.
The building project investigated the theme ‘About Time’ through various sites in and around Clerkenwell, London. Students explored diverse sub-themes such as Dynamic, Animated, Static, Timeless, Forthcoming and Future Time, each tailoring their project briefs to their selected sites, offering new perspectives on the temporal dimensions of architecture.