Wei-Tse (Weitse) Wang

The Infinity Valley | Barcelona, Spain | Unit 21 | 2024weitse.wang.23@ucl.ac.uk With Spain’s ongoing challenges of rising energy costs and the demand for a more independent energy grid, the Infinity Valley represents a beacon of innovation, aiming to mitigate these issues. This project proposes the transformation of Barcelona’s highest mountain, Mount Tibidabo, into a “Battery” by 1 million cubic metres of water. The Infinity Valley incorporates the integration of pumped

Yufei Cheng

El Gòtic Plays Itself | Barcelona, Spain | Unit 21 | 2024 yufei.cheng.21@ucl.ac.uk Situated within the historic core of Barcelona, this project conceptualizes a center for Catalan theatre and craftsmanship, drawing on the Spanish proclivity for festivals and theatrical expressions that transmute quotidian street life into elaborate stage settings.   The methodology involves documenting and translating the cyclical patterns of seasonal changes, theatrical productions, street festivals, and parades into digitally

Xavier Thanki

Depositing Bodies of Data | Barcelona, Spain | Unit 21 | 2024xavier.thanki.23@ucl.ac.uk ‘Depositing Bodies of Data’ explores how data can be encrypted within a site to respond to climatic instabilities. Addressing the rising risk of flooding in the Ebre Delta, it proposes an inhabitable dunescape that harmonises with nature, to protect the regions culturally and economically vital rice farming industry. The project aims to develop a new architectural language by

Harrison Maddox

NEO-XANADU | Barcelona, Spain | Unit 21 | 2024harrison.maddox.18@ucl.ac.uk As the world experiences more extreme and frequent climatological events, as a direct consequence of the climate crisis, it is estimated that 410 million will be affected by rising sea levels by 2100. The effects of global warming have been accelerated by unsustainable energy production, extreme consumerism and outdated infrastructures & technology. NEO-XANADU is a project that attempts to explore an

Yaowen Zhang

L’EVOLUZIONE: A dialogue between the new and old human aesthetics | Florence, Italy | Unit 21 | 2023 Florence is the birthplace of Western humanism and the Renaissance allowed people to really start looking at themselves and documenting their beauty, which has filled the city with aesthetic works of art of the human body. Since the invention of the camera, it has been difficult to break through in terms of

Rory Browne

Scoring Florence | Florence, Italy | Unit 21 | 2023 Scoring Florence has derived directly from the rhythms, cycles, and durations of the city. A contemporary arts space on the river Arno, the project is a gallery developed through a reconstructed digital score of the city. In the same way a musical score leaves its interpretation up to the performer, the architectural score provides the designer agency in its application and

Hugo Loydell

Reframing Florence | Florence, Italy | Unit 21 | 2023 Taking form as a frame-making facility serving the galleries in Florence. Reframing Florence explores the gaze as a tool. Utilising a bespoke eye-tracking headset, the gaze is integrated into the design process. A fixation capture system allows users to compose new architectures based on unique perspectives captured through experiences within the city. Emphasising the significance of the individualised perspective, not

Lewis Brown

Casting Quantum Shingle | Dungeness, UK | Unit 21 | 2021 The dynamic shingle landscape of Dungeness is new and charged with energy, pushed and pulled by geomorphic processes and experimental technologies that populate the flat terrain. The boundless sky and infinite horizon plane form a datum against which the changing climate and landscape are measured. Two Nuclear Power Stations stand on the edge of the landscape, protected from the

Alp Amasya

The Blue | Dungeness, UK | Unit 21 | 2021 The Blue is a film park that consists of multiple film galleries and filmmaker residencies that create a place of pilgrimage for Derek Jarman, a filmmaker who lived in Dungeness between 1986-1994. The project spatialises ‘Jarmanesque’ qualities architecturally in a filmic way that captures the relationship between time and landscape. Jarman developed a deep blue field of vision before his

Rory Browne

Orchestrating Geochronology | Dungeness, UK | Unit 21 | 2021 Awarded the Bartlett School of Architecture Medal, BScAwarded First Class Honours Geochronology is the field of geology concerned with determining the age and history of Earth’s rocks, sediments, and fossils. Time is inherently encoded into the landscape; this project aims to quantify varying scales of time across numerous architectural elements. The scheme proposes a geochronology museum, archive, and research facility.

Carmen Kong

Archiving Jurassic Coast | Isle of Portland, UK | Unit 21 | 2022 carmen.kong.14@ucl.ac.uk Sited on the Jurassic Coast, this project highlights the paradox of conserving an eroding coast. The Jurassic Coast, the only natural heritage site in the UK is a geomorphological landscape encompassing 180 million years of geological history. The coastline contains multiple fossil localities from the Mesozoic era. The Jurassic Coast acts as a natural archive preserving

Rolandas Markevicius

Cross-Modal Compositions | Isle of Portland, UK | Unit 21 | 2022 Awarded the Fitzroy Robinson Drawing Prize rolandas.markevicius.20@ucl.ac.uk The developments in deep neural networks force us to reconsider the role of references. The project frames this statement through the challenge of establishing synaesthetic links between architecture and music suggesting that the new instruments offered by machine learning allow designers to play with abstract features systematically. The project proposes a

Oscar Maguire

Transposing the Courtyard | Isle of Portland, UK | Unit 21 | 2022 oscar.maguire.15@ucl.ac.uk Since the 1850s The Courtyard Societies have been accommodated rent free in Burlington House, a grand neo-classical edifice built from Portland Stone, in the heart of London. Recently however the landlord, the UK Government, decided to start charging rent. The rent increases year on year at an unsustainable rate, setting the clock ticking to stay in

Sam Pierce

The Observer Effect | Brighton, UK | Unit 21 | 2021 In physics, the observer effect is the disturbance of an observed system by the act of observation. This is often the result of instruments that, by necessity, alter the state of what they measure in some manner. This project attempts to embrace the uncertainties of observation through developing frameworks that transform records of everyday presence into a spatial form.

Ed Sear

The Continuous Sea-Wall | Dymchurch, UK | Unit 21 | 2021 Awarded Distinction for Design The Continuous Sea-Wall is a proposal for an inhabitable section of coastline in Dymchurch, Kent. Occupying the boundary between land and sea, the scheme is comprised of a public esplanade, a fish & chip shop, a slot machine arcade, and a terrace of almshouses. Building upon a fascination with lighthouses, the Esplanade occupies a similar

Oliver Parkinson

Pnyx public planning portal | Athens, Greece | Unit 21 | 2019 Awarded Distinction for Design  Click to see Thesis Click to see 4th year work Learning from Raphael’s School Of AthensThe project’s point of departure began with an investigation into Raphael’s Fresco; The School of Athens. Commissioned by Pope Julius II to decorate the walls of his private library within the Vatican. Painted between 1509 & 1511 it

Lester Cheung

Piraeus Archipelago | Athens, Greece| Unit 21 | 2019 Awarded Distinction for Design Click to see Thesis Click to see 4th year work ‘Piraeus Archipelago’ is a redevelopment masterplan for the cruise port of Piraeus, it proposes a strategy to improve the cruise-city relationship whilst creating a rewarding experience for cruise tourists. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s strategy to boost trade and economic exchange across the globe, which promotes investments in

Minh Ngoc Tran

Tree of Turin / Bull’s Emporium| Turin, Italy | Unit 21 | 2018   Click to see Design Realisation Click image to zoom–> The Tree of Turin was constructed through various historical and modern data mining, and so it is broken down again to produce a genetic instruction for form growing. The research project dwells on the attempts to compile composite data in relation to the city of Turin. The city boundary

Camilla Wright

A {WIKI} LEAKING BUILDING | Stockholm, Sweden | Unit 21 | 2017 Awarded Distinction for Design & Distinction for Thesis   Click to see Thesis Click to see 4th year work Sweden’s so called ‘neutrality’ is under question due to classified data leaks confirming that Sweden was spying on Russia throughout the Cold War and have continued to do so since. More recent leaks expose the Swedish government and intelligence

Katherine Scott

ACHIVING THE ANTHROPOCENE | Stockholm, Sweden | Unit 21 | 2017 Awarded Distinction for Design & Distinction for Thesis   Click to see Thesis Click to see 4th Year work        ‘The Anthropocene’ has been proposed to describe the current geological age we are within. Humankind has mindlessly archived contemporary behaviours, manifesting within the Earth’s geology itself. On the field trip to Stockholm, this relationship between humankind and

Sally Taylor

  MARSEILLE: METAPHYSICAL DATA SYSTEMS | Marseille, France | Unit 21 | 2016  Click to see Design Realisation   Marseille has two ports located within close proximity of the city centre. The original Vieux Port is situated near the old town of Le Panier, but maritime traffic becomes too intense and the port was extended north of the city. Port Marseille Fos was built and it now serves as the

Thomas Savage

L’IMAGINAIRE COLLECTIF DE MARSEILLE | Marseille, France | Unit 21 | 2016  Using French cinema as a tool for investigation, the proposal explores a new marketplace against the backdrop of a central and unofficial district which typifes the perception of the city it is located in. The project proposes the re-imaging of the Noailles district, Marseille. Nicknamed “The Belly of Marseille” for its embodiment of the cities national perception – a

Marianna Filippou

MARSEILLE MUSIC AND CULTURAL CENTRE | Marseille, France | Unit 21 | 2016   Click to see Thesis Click to see 4th Year work     Marseille is characterised by its transiency and cultural diversity seen in its importing and exporting activities that take place in the coast and expand in the mainland. The concept behind the proposed scheme for Marseille has been developed through the experience of the city as a

Sophie Richards

THE FRENCH CONNECTION_MARSEILLE AND THE PHYSICAL INTERNET | Marseille, France | Unit 21 | 2016 Awarded Distinction for Design & Distinction for Thesis   Click to see Thesis Click to see 4th Year work   The project proposes a new legal quarter for the city of Marseille. Alongside the continuing development of the internet, cyber crime is becoming increasingly prevalent. Current legal systems are territorial, and maintain jurisdiction only within physical boundaries.

Tomohiro Sugeta

TRANSLATING COLLECTIVE PORTRAITS OF CITY TO URBAN INTERVENTIONS – IMAGINARY MARSEILLE ON INSTAGRAM | Marseille, France | Unit 21 | 2016 Awarded Distinction for Thesis   Click to see Thesis The focus of the project is to explore the possibilities in designing urban interventions by translating data obtained from Instagram in Marseille. This bottom-up approach informed geometrical principles and a site strategy, while the project attempts to reinvent civil space through a