As I look back over the year, it is clear not only that a great deal has been produced in the School, but that it has entered into a new phase of its life in the fragile aftermath of disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic. The most tangible marker of this has been the welcome completion in January of refurbishment works to our home, the Bute Building, on the cusp of our centenary. These works have refashioned our old building into a contemporary container generating new opportunities for teaching, learning, engagement and interdisciplinary research in the process. 

Being able to make creative work visible again after the lock down periods of home-working in 2020-21 has been key to the development of the thematic focus of this year’s show – Unfinished. Rejecting the obsession of much architectural production and representation with brittle end products, the exhibition curators set out to reveal the nature of design work itself, involving the integration of different knowledge systems, tools and ways of seeing, and numerous stages in the formation of contingent propositions. The student project, as they see it, is a journey of exploration, not just a portfolio of seductive, ‘finished’ drawings. 

I am extremely grateful to the dedicated team of staff and students, working collaboratively across programmes and years of study over many months, who have brought interlinked digital and physical exhibitions together this year. Whether you are based locally or further afield, I hope you find your encounter with WSA’s 2021-22 student work here enjoyable and inspiring. 

Professor Juliet Davis, Head of School, Welsh School of Architecture