“Growing Structures 2019/20 WSA Unit XIX” curated by Nicholas Gerritsen
XIX Growing Structures
TUTOR: ALEXANDROS KALLEGIAS
Can a city within a city exist? If so, can we propose a system of interactions between the building and its surroundings which has the potential to adapt to the changing conditions in the city?
Working with the self-contained structure as a building type enables the testing of extreme scenarios informed by the dichotomy between the ‘self-completeness’ of the building and the city. In contemporary urban conditions, where the various social, economic, cultural and artistic systems are interacting in a constant flux of density and differentiation, the building needs to respond to its current environment by changing from a closed building typology of repetitive floor plates towards a heterogeneous, differentiated open system that can adapt itself. Whether it is programmed for a single function or multiple uses, the contemporary paradigm of architecture will expect differentiation of the building along its vertical axis, its circumference, and throughout its volume in an interdependent manner.
As we are increasingly surrounded by information technologies, our spatial experience of the building and the city is transforming as well. Unit XIX, Growing Structures, reinvents the megastructure typology and the connection between the city and its people by devising methods of embedding it within larger urban systems.
PAUL DARAMOLA
“The Urban Super-mix” The thesis theorises a ‘Supermix’ development. This refers to a…
NICHOLAS GERRITSEN
“Millennium Mills: Reinstating Intangible Heritage to the Commons” Located in the Royal Docks…
BORUM KIM
“Make Yourself at Home, Inside and Outside” My thesis started with a question…
ALEX UNGUREANU
“Tactile Knowledge: Identities through Craftsmanship” Across centuries, people’s habits and traditions have been…
CONGYUAN YUAN
“Living & Growing” The Royal dock has undergone a series of regenerations, and…
EPAMEINONDAS BOUMPOULIS
“Hedonistic Ambiguity” The vision for the Royal Docks is to become London’s centre…