Interested in studying MArch? Join our Google Hangout!

Kent School of Architecture are hosting an MArch Google Hangout with the MArch programme director, Michael Richards, on Tuesday 11th December at 12.00 – 13.00 GMT for all current and prospective applicants.

If you are interested in studying on the MArch programme for entry in September 2019, and would like to find out more information about the course structure, unit system, entry requirements and would like an opportunity to have your queries answered, then please email ksaadmissions@kent.ac.uk to book onto this event.

 

Fresh Perspectives: A display of recent student work from across the country

We are pleased to announce that two of Kent’s architecture graduates, Steph Elward and Fergus Littlejohn, have had their work selected to be included in RIBA’s Fresh Perspectives Exhibition.

Fresh Perspectives is a display of recent student work from across the country in response to the theme of RIBA’s current exhibition in the Architecture Gallery, Disappear Here: On perspective and other kinds of space. Perspective is one of the enduring, fascinating and important concerns of architectural thinking, representation and practice. This new display is a celebration of the theme, drawing on some of the brightest work from architectural students and recent graduates.

Kent’s School of Architecture was one of just 13 schools selected from across the UK. Fresh Perspectives is now open for view and runs until the 29 September 2018 at the RIBA Practice Space, on the third floor at RIBA London, 66 Portland Place, London W1. https://www.architecture.com/whats-on/fresh-perspectives-student-show

MArch Unit 5 exhibition at York’s Festival of Ideas

MArch Unit 5 students will be presenting their innovative visions for the city of York at the York Festival of Ideas. The brief given for the exhibition was to; Design for Galactic Life on Earth: How can architectural intervention be used to initiate change? Each student has come up with their own proposal and these can be found on the York Festival of Ideas website.

There will also be talks from speakers including;

  • Alison Brooks, Alison Brooks Architects
  • Clare Wright, Wright & Wright Architects
  • Bob Allies, Allies and Morrison
  • Timothy Ireland , Kent School of Architecture
  • Sir Malcolm Grant, University of York

The festival is taking place on Sunday 17th June from 12pm to 6pm, admission is free and there is no need to book in advance.

The image below forms part of Stephanie Elward’s scheme – Reading Rooms for Rowntree’s Library for Precious Books.

KSA partners with the British Council on Venice Fellowships Programme

Kent School of Architecture is delighted to announce a partnership with the British Council on the 2018 Venice Fellowships Programme which forms part of the British Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. KSA will support three students to spend a month in Venice, conducting independent research and invigilating the exhibition, Island, curated by Caruso St John Architects working in collaboration with artist Marcus Taylor.

Students from the School of Architecture are given an exclusive opportunity to spend a month in Venice during one of the world’s most significant art and architecture exhibitions organised by La Biennale di Venezia, which will run from 26 May to 25 November 2018. They will be invigilating the British Pavilion and undertaking independent research projects while in Venice.

The Venice Fellowships Programme offers our students, graduates and researchers the opportunity to become actively involved in La Biennale di Venezia and gain first-hand experience of the British Pavilion, this year’s curators and their vision. We have selected some of our brightest students or most motivated researchers to Venice to embark on a unique personal and creative experience.

Professor Don Gray of Kent School of Architecture said, “Our students have benefitted from taking part in previous Biennales, and Kent School of Architecture is delighted to once again support the scheme and our talented students.  The experience of stewarding the pavilion and undertaking independent research projects is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Laura Broderick, Venice Fellowships Programme Manager, British Council said, “The Venice Fellowships programme is a fantastic international experience for students and graduates – with bespoke training in London, skills development opportunities at the British Pavilion, and a chance to expand networks across the UK. The Fellows are involved in research and the production of creative responses to the Biennale and Venice itself. This is key for our UK partners engaged in improving outward mobility and employability. For the British Council, it is very important to support emerging artists, architects, curators and researchers – and to place informed stewards at the heart of the British Pavilion .”

The British Pavilion at Biennale Architettura 2018, commissioned by the British Council, will be represented by the work Island from Caruso St John Architects working in collaboration with artist Marcus Taylor, with the construction of a new public space on the roof of the pavilion building.

Throughout Biennale Architettura 2018 the Pavilion of Great Britain will programme a unique series of events including poetry, performance, film and architectural talks and debates in response to Freespace and ideas raised by Island. The British Council has been responsible for the British Pavilion in Venice since 1937, showcasing the best of the UK’s artists, architects, designers and curators to an international audience.

The Fellowships programme was initiated in 2014 by the British Council to strengthen the British Pavilion contribution as a platform for ideas and research. This programme aims to educate and enrich the exhibition, making it a reference point for universities and arts institutions. The Fellowships offers a way of viewing and experiencing art and architecture that provides a new outlook on issues of public and private space, artistic process and display.

Former MArch Student publishes paper in Health Environments Research and Design Journal

Former MArch student, Megan Catt, has published her paper, ‘The Reality of Wellbeing-Focused Design in Dementia Care – A Case Study of Acute Dementia Wards in the UK’ in the Health Environments Research and Design Journal (HERD), a USA based journal, supported by Kent School of Architecture’s Dr Giridharan Renganathan.

The paper studies the design of dementia wards in NHS hospitals, looking at wellbeing-focused design, an approach that considers the effects of the built environment on an occupant’s physical and psychological health. Dementia is a pressing health concern in the UK, with a high psychological care requirement. The potential for the built environment to reduce the impact of symptoms is significant, with an established body of research proving that by making even small adjustments to spatial design (with considerations for light, sound, quality of space, promoting social interaction and independence, maintaining privacy and dignity and triggering memories) improvements to patient health and care outcomes can be achieved, such as reducing falls, time spent in hospital, or blood pressure and stress. Design concepts for achieving these and other health improvements were analysed in the paper, and compiled into a framework of criteria that could be used to test for evidence of a ‘good’ dementia environment. The framework was used in several case studies, at wards which had recently undergone wellbeing-driven refurbishments. The observations, staff interviews, and testing against the framework, carried out during these visits highlighted successes and failures of the projects, showing where further progression is required in the creation of wards that passively assist health.

The research for this paper was originally undertaken for Megan’s MArch dissertation at KSA, where she looked at the design of wards for both dementia and maternity patients, two very different patient groups, each with specific psychological care needs. Since graduating in 2016, Megan has continued her research into the subject, focusing on design for dementia, with continued support from Giridharan Renganathan, who has helped me to develop the paper for publishing.

Timothy Brittain-Catlin joins the Azrieli Global Studio

Amélie Savoie-Saumure, Matt Breton-Honeyman and Pascale Julien in front of their joint project ‘All at Sea’.

On 19 April, Dr Timothy Brittain-Catlin joined a review of work from the Azrieli Global Studio at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture at McGill University in Montreal. The Studio, funded by the Azrieli Foundation, is a collaboration between McGill and Carleton Universities in Canada, and the Technion and Tel Aviv University in Israel, and brings together MArch students from both countries to explore extreme environments through intensive research and design projects.

McGill students presented their work on sites around the Dead Sea and Negev Desert at a crit in Montreal just before their Israeli partners set off for the far north of Canada. Dr Brittain-Catlin reviewed their projects in a panel with project tutor Professor Howard Davies; School Director, Professor Martin Bressani; Mary-Jean Eastman, principal and founding partner of the global New York architectural practice Perkins Eastman; and architect & assistant professor at Keimyung University, Henry Tsang. Associate Professor Aaron Sprecher and Tom Shaked of the Technion and Dan Shapira of Tel Aviv University also attended.

Alexander Bove presented the McGill team’s research findings.

The partnership between KSA and McGill goes back to 2010 when Dr Brittain-Catlin first joined Professor Bressani’s students for postgraduate seminars on nineteenth-century gothic revival architecture. With Professor Emeritus Jan de Maeyer of KU Leuven, they published Gothic Revival Worldwide: A.W.N. Pugin’s Global Influence last year.

Dr Brittain-Catlin joined a crit panel the following day to review projects from the vertical MArch / Stage 3 studio led by the renowned Quebec architect Gilles Saucier, whose practice Saucier + Perrotte won this year’s Gold Medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Lydia Liang and Harriet Strachan present their project based on desalination pools
Featured Image: Professor Howard Davies; Dr Timothy Brittain-Catlin; Mary-Jean Eastman, principal and founding partner of the global New York architectural practice Perkins Eastman; architect & assistant professor at Keimyung University, Henry Tsang; and Professor Martin Bressani.

Outreach workshops at Community College Whitstable

As part of the Outreach programme which the Kent School of Architecture runs, we made four trips to Community College Whitstable where we introduced the subject of architecture to a class of Year 9 Art students.

In our first two sessions we discussed the principles behind architectural drawing to the students, before introducing them to their brief – to design a café with a view on the Whitstable Harbour Arm.  Working in groups of 3 to 4, the students quickly started playing with ideas by sketching them and by exploring existing precedents.  By looking at projects such as underwater hotels and roof-top gardens, the students soon realised that the possibilities of architecture went beyond what they had originally thought.

In the third session, we introduced the students to the idea of working to scale and with this in mind, tasked them with making a 1:100 scale model which would showcase their designs.  We provided them with white card, acetate, foam board and paper and the designs soon came to life which the students all seemed to really enjoy.  Although some of the students needed encouragement in their abilities to design and model-make, they all pushed through and produced a variety of exciting and unique proposals.  The model making continued into our final session, at the end of which, we asked them to present their work to the rest of the class, which they all felt confident in doing.

During our time there it was great to also talk to the students about studying architecture.  Although they were only 13 years old, they were curious about the route to becoming an architect, as well as our current MArch work.  They spoke to us about their personal experiences and interests in the field, and there were a few students who were genuinely interested in pursuing it in the future.

Overall, we were truly impressed with the students’ creativity, outcomes, and interest in the subject. We both agree that we would have enjoyed a workshop like this at their age, as neither of us had the opportunity.  We hope the students have not only learned about architecture as a potential career path, but also about group-work, the design process and confidence in their abilities and ideas.

By Monica Win and Edward Hobbs
Stage 4, MArch

MArch Open Afternoons 2017/18

Kent School of Architecture are hosting a series of MArch Open Afternoons (2pm – 4pm) in Studio C, Marlowe Building on the Canterbury campus.

If you are interested in studying on the MArch programme, and would like to find out more information about the course structure, unit system, entry requirements and would like an opportunity to speak with the MArch programme director, Michael Richards, along with current students and unit leaders, then please choose from one of the following dates below to attend:

  • Tuesday 12 December 2017, 2pm – 4pm, Studio C
  • Tuesday 27 February 2018, 2pm – 4pm, Studio C
  • Wednesday 4 April 2018, 2pm – 4pm, Studio C
  • Wednesday 20 June 2018, 2pm – 4pm, Studio C

If you would like to attend, or have any queries about the MArch course, please email ksaadmissions@kent.ac.uk for online booking information.

MArch student wins 3DReid Student Prize

Graduating 5th Year MArch student, Bradley Sowter, has won this year’s £1,000 3DReid Student Prize for the best Part 2 student in the UK for his architectural retelling of a Christmas Carol.

The Project, ‘A Christmas Carol’, explores the work/home divide within Central and how we can reconnect with our loved ones. Using A Christmas Carol as a proxy the project explores the uncanny nature of the unheimlich, within the art form of Film. Through the investigation of this film, architecture manifests itself throughout the city as temporary and permanent film sets.

 

KSA MArch students invited to Lord Heseltine’s Thames Estuary Commission

Charlie Hope, Robert Joyce and Abbie Sobik of Stage 5 joined two Masters students from Westminster to present their vision for the Thames Estuary 2050 through the themes of Live, Work, Connectivity and Identity. The students were invited by Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM architects to Lord Heseltine’s Thames Estuary Commission’s Charette, hosted on the 39th Floor at Canary Wharf. The day featured presentations from a number of high profile guests including Sir Stuart Lipton, Professor Michael Parkinson and author of ‘The New English Landscape’, Ken Worpole.