This year, the Archiving Place unit is concerned with the past, present, and future possibilities of The City of London.

The unit immersed itself in a process of archiving the history, cultures, and spirit of the city - focusing the research of the physical architecture that represents this region.

During the primer project, students were encouraged to collect information by implementing their own distinct archiving techniques (video, modelling, mapping, drawing, casting, painting, photogrammetry, coding and diagramming) which allowed them to discover the cultural significance of the architecture of the city.

By using the process of archiving as a conceptual lens through which to look at a place, students were encouraged to produce a response that acknowledges the issues, concerns, and themes they have identified. As with last years unit, we are interested in the notion of “productivity” and encouraged students to challenge what it means for the city to be “productive”.

Students will began by trying to understand the local and national policies that have resulted in the current cultural and economical situation. How does policy and legislation relate to the place and people and how can this be understood as part of an architectural
project?

The unit is equally concerned with discovering the beauty, rhythm, and pattern within the city and using this to inform proposals. Does this relate to the productivity of this city within a city and does their definition of productivity reflect the cultural idea that we have as a nation for productivity?

As always, sustainability was a key focus for the year but we were interested in viewing sustainability as a multi-faceted term. Our focus was on approaching the physical land, architecture, and the culture that occupies it as a resource in itself. We encouraged students to produce holistic, well-reasoned, and culturally sustainable proposals.