Building Stock' Extended Briefhousebuilders have developed a neo-vernacular architecture of ‘non-style’, embodying a distilled reflection of the British mindset. Their concentrated

EX 1

Architectural Association

'Building Stock'

2019 / 20

Extended Brief

5EX 1 Building Stock Extended Brief

Agenda

Housing in the UK, particularly in and around London, is out of reach for the majority of people. Moreover, conventional models of how we live are perhaps ill equipped to respond to rapidly changing patterns of living. In response, Experimental Unit 1 will focus on evolving the nature of dwelling. We will situate ourselves in the much maligned but fecund territory between the urban and the rural, the suburbs.

VolumeThe opportunity to acknowledge, study and assess volume housebuilding as a presentation of Britain’s housing stock is more pertinent now than ever before. As the discourse surrounding the “housing crisis” finds itself in a maelstrom, with suburbia at the heart of a growing debate on housing in the United Kingdom, architects—who have, on the whole, surrendered this ground—can no longer afford to ignore and disparage the impact and value of the Volume Housebuilding Project as it currently stands. Its built legacy, not only in terms of dwelling but also in relation to plot boundaries and urban arrangement, is rapidly defining—and will continue to demarcate—the appearance of Britain’s suburbs and exurbs.

These developments have generated an immediate, unchecked and untapped ecosystem which has so far eluded concerted appraisal. Over the preceding three decades volume housebuilders have developed a neo-vernacular architecture of ‘non-style’, embodying a distilled reflection of the British mindset. Their concentrated marketing campaigns are able to sell the smallest houses in Western Europe to a large portion of British homeowners, who are seeking the suburban grain of detached and semi-detached typologies. Does their attraction lie in the freedom and independence that they offer?

Metropolitan areas the world over are experiencing rapid urban migration and the need for more homes is a widely accepted reality. With urban density comes suburban growth, existing together in a bilateral, symbiotic relationship. Compared to the city, modern suburbia is a relatively recent phenomenon and although in its infancy, there is a great deal to be learnt from the peculiarities of its development in Britain.

A New DealThe ‘home for life’ mentality is no longer a reality, and the volume housebuilders’ product reflects this shift. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries empowered a more mobile population who were able to choose different types of settlement depending on their life stage — be they a student or young professional, a parent or retired. The traditional ‘deal’ offered by suburbia, and catalysed by the railways, was one of compromise. It catered for people’s desire to escape the squalor and labour unrest of the city’s industrialised and polluted core in favour of the image of the idyllic country enclave (‘a piece of England to call one’s own’) and the freedom and independence it afforded. It was the construct of suburbia that initially created the middle-

01 View to London from suburbia, (unknown)02 Scene from 'The Dilapidated Dwelling', 2000, Patrick Keiller (dir)03 'Night Projections', Philip Ebeling04 'North Circular', Martin Parr

01

02

03

04


class, governing and governed by their lifestyle, aspirations, routines and rituals. This construct, having evolved into a highly successful, heterogenous landscape of cultures and cultural contributions, now accommodates four fifths of the British population.

This traditional ‘deal’, and its corresponding social contract, is now unravelling and becoming increasingly out of reach. As a housing problem has tipped into a housing crisis, the dialogue between city and suburb has developed into a dialogue between city, suburb and exurb. A comprehensive lack of affordable housing has removed the choice for generations to prescribe to the traditional, aforementioned, ‘deal’. As such, they are now compelled to migrate to the exurbs, creating a new level of demand for dwellings which the Volume Housebuilding Project has absorbed. In short, the traditionally fluid relationship between suburbia and the inner-city has become a privilege of the few.

To add to this, the demands placed on sub- and exurbia are now intensifying. Young adults, for example, are living with their parents until well into their twenties and the elderly, who are living longer, are needing greater care. Subsequently, the rich diversity and accessibility of suburbia—often overlooked, misrepresented, misunderstood and rarely celebrated—is at risk. Rather than passively allowing market forces determine the future of British housing, the unit recognises that a new ‘deal’ now needs to be negotiated to provide the quantity of new homes at the required density.

BelongingThe most under-acknowledged success of the Volume Housebuilding Project has been its capacity to cede authority to the homeowner, offering the chance to complete the house through their own transformative activities. In contrast to the architect-designed home, the volume housebuilders’ model facilitates the homeowner’s need and desire to co-author domestic space—in terms of the exterior, interior, and on the level of furniture and objects—to form a biography of their life. People feel comfortable within this framework, which accounts for its success. As a commercial force, the volume housebuilders’ product is empathetic, accommodating and inclusive.

The volume housebuilders’ neo-vernacular collection of collapsed, nostalgic styles—from neoclassical plaster columns to Tudor Mock—caters for people’s desire for ‘character’. This quintessentially British inclination cannot be bracketed as postmodernism, nor can it be simply labelled as pastiche: the homeowners’ aspiration for historical reference (or ‘character’) is, in itself, an authentic pursuit — a condition which the anthropological discourse has long understood. Whereas architects, critics and educators treat ‘originality’ and ‘material honesty’ as among the deities of design, anthropologists take a different stance. They understand and appreciate the pursuit of ‘character’ as indiscriminately accessible and part of who we are, not to be sneered at nor passively disparaged. 01 Myrtle Avenue Picnic, Philip Ebeling02 Co–authorship of rooms, the teenager's bedroom. Harry Gruyaert, 200603 Adapted stone gateposts, 2011, Martin Parr04 Keeping Up Appearances – the British Pavilion in Venice as a suburban cul-de-sac, OMMX, 201605 Housing on the edge of London

01

03

02

04

05


Methodology

The unit will adopt a multi-disciplinary approach, departing from the exclusivity of architectural critique and looking to other fields such as art, history, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy and psychology to understand human behaviour. Despite this, we will approach projects with a keen eye on the realities of development and construction and will take delight in the simple but extraordinary assembly of material and its representation. The work of each student will be structured around three principle briefs, Furniture, Manual and Building.

Furniture (Misbehaviour) – Term 1Everything begins with furniture. Our cities evolve based upon a current understanding of how spaces are used and their resultant critical dimensions and construction. In aiming to safeguard a minimum quality of life, government design guides assume the number, type, scale of, and space around furniture to establish a set of space standards and accommodate different demographics. Furniture not only governs how we live together but is also a fundamental building block of our cities.

People misbehave - we stand on chairs, sit on bollards, sleep on sofas and work in baths. We are all opportunists, and in some sense designers, who co-opt the things around us for different uses beyond their original intention. We routinely misuse our furniture and the spaces we reside in.

For the first few weeks of term 1, the unit will reject narrow definitions and assumed standards. We will create furniture to misbehave in, on and around. This initial task is purposefully and deceptively simple. However, it is aimed at questioning the status quo by examining something tangible, ordinary and overlooked. Through the creation of a 1:1 artefact you will be forced into immediate confrontation with the act of making – exploring common misconceptions, aspirational hangovers and accepted norms about furniture and its use.Indicative output:– Furniture piece, 1:1 scale– Photographic still life– Sketches and drawings, various scale

Manual (Dysfunction) – Terms 1 & 2Design guides offer guidance. However, too often they are fixed, adopted into policy, and rigidly interpreted by local authorities. It is important to challenge their underlying assumptions, whilst acknowledging their inherent value in promoting and protecting better design. One such flaw is that the definition given to spaces seems weighted towards their most obvious

01 Dalton Trumbo writing in his bathtub02 The bathroom as a piece of furniture, Jonathan Woolf03 Cue, the superimposition of many uses onto one furniture piece, OMMX04 Adaptation by the Refugee Company for Crafts and Design of an Enzo Mari

Autoprogettazione chair05 Body measurements, from Neufert's Architects' Data

01

02

04

05

03


quantifiable utility and requirement, without consideration of the full range and complexity of human behaviour.

In tandem to the production of furniture, we will create an alternative handbook for remaking our environment. This will constitute a constellation of illustrated ‘essays’ that build upon themes established in the first weeks of term 1. We will continue with an inquisitive approach, tending towards verbs rather than nouns. We’ll be interested more in bathing than bathrooms, sleeping than bedrooms and so on. We will cast a wide net and look at other disciplines to understand human behaviour, in fields such as art, history, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy and psychology. We will draw on the AA’s rich resources, building partnerships with other graduate programmes (HCT, Housing and Urbanism, PhD etc) and inviting external academics and collaborators to discuss the life of our suburbs, and how to make them more liveable and less ‘functional’.

The manual/(s) will form an individual and collective resource, to be drawn from throughout the year. We hope that they will establish a strong foundation for each student to build upon, and help to guide discussion and debate in response to the building design of the principal project. As per the opening furniture brief, the manual will be grouped into categories.Indicative output:– Written text– Axonometric and plan diagrams, at various scales– Physical publication, to be collated as a collective unit manual

Precedent Study (Co-Authorship) – Term 2As a stepping stone between furniture and rooms to building and city, you will undertake a continuous precedent study in which you will, with great precision, draw and model a building selected from a list provided. It is an exercise to uncover the essential and fundamental qualities of space, arrangement and structure. We will make unlikely bedfellows through the random pairing of an existing building and a new imagined use. Art galleries might become housing, or factories transformed into schools. By overwriting an existing building with ‘mis-use’, we hope to understand the capacity of architecture to react to change and to leave space for the inhabitant to co-opt. The case studies will range in period, style, location and construction in order to form a shared resource.Indicative output:– Plan drawing, 1.50 scale– Section drawing, 1.50 scale– Sectional model, with inhabitation, 1.33 scale

01 London Housing Design Guide02 "03 Restoration by OMMX, in 'Building Upon Building', NAI Publishers, 201604 One Man Houses II, 2004, Thomas Schütte05 Excerpt from Species of Spaces, Georges Perec

92

Appendix 1 – Space Standards StudyThis study of room sizes relative to designed occupancy levels is the basis of the minimum space standards (GIA) of Standard 4.1.1. To develop the space standards, each type of room was planned around the furniture listed in Appendix 2 and activity and access requirements. The GIA is the cumulative total of room areas plus an allowance for circulation and partitions.

3-bed, 5-persons

Bathroom Storage/Utility OutdoorAmenity Space

Circulation LayoutsStairs for 3m floor to floor height

15 steps 230/200

Variations3-bed, 4-persons1 level flat: 70-12+(8x2)= 74 sq.m2 storey house: 83-12+ (8x2)= 87 sq.m3 storey house: 87+6= 93 sq.m

3-bed, 6-persons1 level flat: 99-16+12= 95 sq.m2 storey house: 107-16+12= 103 sq.m3 storey house: 113-16+12= 109 sq.m

4-bed, 5-persons1 level flat: 86-12+(8x2)= 90 sq.m2 storey house: 96-12+ (8x2)= 100 sq.m3 storey house: 102-12+ (8x2)= 106 sq.m

Kitchen*see key to kitchen items

Diningdining area calculated as

difference of kitchen diningand kitchen

Living Double Twin SingleCombinedKitchen/

Living/Dining:

Net Internal Circulation: Partition wallsallow 5 %

GIA[exc. amenity]

4-bed, 6-persons

1-person

1-bed, 2-persons

2-bed, 3-persons

2-bed, 4-persons

2400

2600

BU

WM RB FF

CYL

6.2 sq.m

6.8 sq.m

2600

2600

BU

WM RB

FF CYLT DW

7.5 sq.m

2900

2600

BU

WM

FF

RB

CYLDW

8.3 sq.m

3200

2600

BU

WM

FF

RBBU

AE CYLDW

9.6 sq.m

3700

2600

WM

FF

BU RB

BU

AE

CYLDW

7.5 sq.m

2900

2600

BU

WM

FF

RB

CYLDW

9.4 sq.mdining area 3.2 sq.m

3600

2600


4000

2600


4000

2800


4000

3000


4000

3200


4000

3600

12.0 sq.m

SU

3400

3500

13.0 sq.m

SU

3700

3500

14.0 sq.m

4000

3500

SU

14.8 sq.m

SU

4000

3700

16.0 sq.m

SU

4000

4000

17.0 sq.m

SU

4000

4250

21 sq.m

23 sq.m

33.5 sq.m

41 sq.m

51.5 sq.m

54.5 sq.m

58 sq.m

60 sq.m

71 sq.m

72 sq.m

3 sq.m

3.5 sq.m

3.5 sq.m

4 sq.m

61 sq.m

77 sq.m

70 sq.m

83 sq.m

1 Level Flat+ 1.5 sq.m



2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m


2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m


2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m

2 Storey House

+ 25 sq.m

2 sq.m

2.5 sq.m

37 sq.m

50 sq.m

25 sq.m

27 sq.m

29 sq.m

31 sq.m

3000

750

4000

Double Bedroom12.0 sq.m

3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

4000

Twin Bedroom12.0 sq.m

3000

4000


3000

4000


Bedspace8.0 sq.m

3300

2400

3300

2400

3300

2400

Single Bedroom8.0 sq.m

3300

2400

3300

2400


3300

2400

3300

2400

2 Single Bedroom16.0 sq.m

1850

1945

Shower Room3.6 sq.m

2100

2100

Bathroom4.4 sq.m

2100

2100

1400

1900

Bathroom4.4 sq.m

Wheelchair WCNO Shower

2.7 sq.m

required on entrance level for multi-level units

2100

2100

1400

1900

Bathroom4.4 sq.m


2.7 sq.m


2100

2100

2100

1150

1850

1945

Bathroom + WC6.8 sq.m


Wheelchair WC WITH shower

3.6 sq.m

2100

2100

2100

1150

1850

1945




3.6 sq.m

2000

750 1330

750

1330

Storage 1p1 sq.m

2000

750

1250750

750

2000

Storage 2p1.5 sq.m

2000

750 1250

1410

750

2660

Storage 3p2.0 sq.m

2000

750

2600

2000

1000

4600

Storage 6p3.5 sq.m

WM TD CYL

1800

2000

Option: Utility Room

3.6 sq.m

2000

750 2000

2000

750

4000

Storage 5p3.0 sq.m

WM TD CYL

1800

2000


3.6 sq.m

2000

750 1800

1500

750

3300

Storage 4p2.5 sq.m

4 sq.m

1500

2600

5 sq.m

1500

3200

6 sq.m

3300

1900

7 sq.m

3600

1950

8 sq.m

3400

2450

9 sq.m

4000

2250

72 sq.m

4.5 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

86 sq.m

96 sq.m

102 sq.m

81.5 sq.m

82.5 sq.m


2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m

2 Storey House

+ 25 sq.m82.5 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

5.5 sq.m

5.5 sq.m

99 sq.m

107 sq.m

113 sq.m

1050

900

800300

750

775

one level flat circulation area 6.5-12.5 sqm

ground level

two storey house circulation

area 19 sqm

1st level

three storey house circulation

area 25 sqm

2nd Level

1050900

1050900

900 1050

ground level

Alternative stair configuration

1st level 2nd Level

1940

2120

19401940

*Key to Kitchen Items

AE Ancillary EquipmentBU Base UnitCYL Hot Water CylinderDR DrawersDW Dishwasher-optionalFF Fridge FreezerRB Recycle BinsSU Storage UnitT Tray SpaceWM Washing Machine

93

3-bed, 5-persons

Bathroom Storage/Utility OutdoorAmenity Space

Circulation LayoutsStairs for 3m floor to floor height

15 steps 230/200

Variations3-bed, 4-persons1 level flat: 70-12+(8x2)= 74 sq.m2 storey house: 83-12+ (8x2)= 87 sq.m3 storey house: 87+6= 93 sq.m

3-bed, 6-persons1 level flat: 99-16+12= 95 sq.m2 storey house: 107-16+12= 103 sq.m3 storey house: 113-16+12= 109 sq.m

4-bed, 5-persons1 level flat: 86-12+(8x2)= 90 sq.m2 storey house: 96-12+ (8x2)= 100 sq.m3 storey house: 102-12+ (8x2)= 106 sq.m

Kitchen*see key to kitchen items

Diningdining area calculated as

difference of kitchen diningand kitchen

Living Double Twin SingleCombinedKitchen/

Living/Dining:

Net Internal Circulation: Partition wallsallow 5 %

GIA[exc. amenity]

4-bed, 6-persons

1-person

1-bed, 2-persons

2-bed, 3-persons

2-bed, 4-persons

2400

2600

BU

WM RB FF

CYL

6.2 sq.m

6.8 sq.m

2600

2600

BU

WM RB

FF CYLT DW

7.5 sq.m

2900

2600

BU

WM

FF

RB

CYLDW

8.3 sq.m

3200

2600

BU

WM

FF

RBBU

AE CYLDW

9.6 sq.m

3700

2600

WM

FF

BU RB

BU

AE

CYLDW

7.5 sq.m

2900

2600

BU

WM

FF

RB

CYLDW


3600

2600


4000

2600


4000

2800


4000

3000


4000

3200


4000

3600

12.0 sq.m

SU

3400

3500

13.0 sq.m

SU

3700

3500

14.0 sq.m

4000

3500

SU

14.8 sq.m

SU

4000

3700

16.0 sq.m

SU

4000

4000

17.0 sq.m

SU

4000

4250

21 sq.m

23 sq.m

33.5 sq.m

41 sq.m

51.5 sq.m

54.5 sq.m

58 sq.m

60 sq.m

71 sq.m

72 sq.m

3 sq.m

3.5 sq.m

3.5 sq.m

4 sq.m

61 sq.m

77 sq.m

70 sq.m

83 sq.m




2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m


2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m


2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m

2 Storey House

+ 25 sq.m

2 sq.m

2.5 sq.m

37 sq.m

50 sq.m

25 sq.m

27 sq.m

29 sq.m

31 sq.m

3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

750

4000


3000

4000


3000

4000


3000

4000


Bedspace8.0 sq.m

3300

2400

3300

2400

3300

2400


3300

2400

3300

2400


3300

2400

3300

2400

2 Single Bedroom16.0 sq.m

1850

1945

Shower Room3.6 sq.m

2100

2100

Bathroom4.4 sq.m

2100

2100

1400

1900

Bathroom4.4 sq.m


2.7 sq.m


2100

2100

1400

1900

Bathroom4.4 sq.m


2.7 sq.m


2100

2100

2100

1150

1850

1945




3.6 sq.m

2100

2100

2100

1150

1850

1945




3.6 sq.m

2000

750 1330

750

1330

Storage 1p1 sq.m

2000

750

1250750

750

2000

Storage 2p1.5 sq.m

2000

750 1250

1410

750

2660

Storage 3p2.0 sq.m

2000

750

2600

2000

1000

4600

Storage 6p3.5 sq.m

WM TD CYL

1800

2000


3.6 sq.m

2000

750 2000

2000

750

4000

Storage 5p3.0 sq.m

WM TD CYL

1800

2000


3.6 sq.m

2000

750 1800

1500

750

3300

Storage 4p2.5 sq.m

4 sq.m

1500

2600

5 sq.m

1500

3200

6 sq.m

3300

1900

7 sq.m

3600

1950

8 sq.m

3400

2450

9 sq.m

4000

2250

72 sq.m

4.5 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

86 sq.m

96 sq.m

102 sq.m

81.5 sq.m

82.5 sq.m


2 Storey House

+ 19 sq.m

2 Storey House

+ 25 sq.m82.5 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

5.5 sq.m

5.5 sq.m

99 sq.m

107 sq.m

113 sq.m

1050

900

800300

750

775

one level flat circulation area 6.5-12.5 sqm

ground level

two storey house circulation

area 19 sqm

1st level

three storey house circulation

area 25 sqm

2nd Level

1050900

1050900

900 1050

ground level

Alternative stair configuration

1st level 2nd Level

1940

2120

19401940

*Key to Kitchen Items

AE Ancillary EquipmentBU Base UnitCYL Hot Water CylinderDR DrawersDW Dishwasher-optionalFF Fridge FreezerRB Recycle BinsSU Storage UnitT Tray SpaceWM Washing Machine

A downloadable version of this document is available from http://www.lda.gov.uk/publications-and-media/publications/design-guide.aspx

02

01

03

04

05


Building – Terms 2 & 3The main project for the year will be the design of a building, or collection of buildings, to house a minimum of 100 people. The selection of this seemingly arbitrary number is to encourage non-biased approaches to how we live with one another at various stages of our lives. We will continue to explore issues of hybridity, use and misuse.

As opposed to typology, we will address typicality. We will search for alternative settings for domestic life that mirror the way that we live now and may offer alternative aspirations for the future. Proposals will be expansive, yet carefully edited to form concise, precise and polemical constructions that speak to the concerns identified in the previous terms. We will urge students to think about scarcity, identity, buildability and affordability, and to find the poetry therein. In doing so, we aim to carve out an alternative space for radical thought through the lens and realities of contemporary practice.

The unit will encourage a fresh, unbiased review of a phenomenon so ordinary that it deserves, and warrants, closer examination. With the UK poised to increase homebuilding targets there is an immediate urgency to investigate ways of dwelling which can accommodate new and existing patterns of living, able to absorb sociological and demographical shifts. Indicative output:– Physical fragment models and material studies, 1.1, 1.10– Physical massing and elemental building studies, 1.200, 1.500 or 1.1000– Sectional model, 1.20, 1.33, or 1.50– Plan drawings, 1.50, 1.100– Section drawings, 1.50, 1.100– Elevation studies, various– Perspective collages– Axonometric drawings, various scales– Territorial scale drawing, 1.1000, 1.5000 or 1.10000– Written text– Diagrams

Of course, the focus of each brief and task is designed to grow in scale and complexity as we move through the year but in any case, they will be divided and interspersed with shorter tasks and workshops throughout. Teaching will be conducted via a combination of tutorials and regular pin ups. We think the latter is especially important to foster a sense of collective learning and endeavour, and we will strongly encourage the sharing of knowledge and skills amongst all of you.

02

04

05

06

03

07

01

01 Casa Mora, Abalos y Herreros02 The splintered components of a suburban home03 'Dwelling in a Wall', 1.50 fragment model, Hannah Sheerin, OMMX Y2 Cambridge studio04 (&07) Within Reach, an exercise in compressed suburban living, OMMX05 'Cutting the Suburban Home', Dustin May, OMMX Y3 Bartlett studio06 'One Day Building', a result from OMMX's Porto Academy workshop


Site – Metroland

As a unit, we will be deeply concerned with context and place, identifying tactics for reinvention using what is there now, and what might be there in the future. Projects will be sited along the historic Metropolitan Railway line out of north west London – the tract of land developed to alleviate London’s housing pressures – and will respond to the railway as a journey through the concentric ideas of living across time.

This suburban landscape, still colloquially referred to as ‘Metroland’, was in fact born from the marketing department of the Metropolitan Railway in 1915. They saw an opportunity to capitalise on the newly accessible countryside away from the overcrowding of the inner city, to provide dwellings both adjacent to, but crucially removed from, London’s centre. The area was sold as “land of cottages and wild flowers”, an attractive solution to the post war housing crisis. So successful was this message, fields and farmland soon made way for housing and high streets, developed in parcels in an attempt to create a string of village like developments along the railway.

Of course, this semi-rural idyll no longer conforms to such a picture, and in many parts resembles much of inner city London with its estates and high streets dense with activity and development. It doesn’t take too long searching to uncover the myriad issues at hand, from overcrowding, slum landlords and beds-in-sheds. Nevertheless, the ingenuity of much of the post war volume house builders is manifest in the persistence of generous but tightly-knit residential streets – which still offer space, freedom and well constructed housing stock.

The unit will critically reflect on the nature of historic and contemporary development: its make-up, its scale, its speed, its siting, its grain, its ownership and its construction. We will be interested in the contribution that the ‘periphery’ can make, in opposition to the prevailing trend that inner-city, brownfield, compact dwelling is the principle solution to the easing of the strains on housing provision.

01 Suburban housing, Queensbury, NW London, 193502 Metropolitan Line route03 Metroland advert04 Parking on Greenhill Way, Philip Ebeling05 Ruislip houses for sale in 'Metro–Land' magazine advert

01

02

05

03

04Former Winsor & Newton headquarters, now artists’ studios © Philipp Ebeling

Temporary Mosque at Harrow Leisure Centre © Philipp Ebeling

Off-street parking, Greenhill Way © Philipp Ebeling

View down Masons Avenue © Philipp Ebeling


Trip

Our plan this year is to travel to Europe, via train, to look at historic and contemporary housing projects. It will be an opportunity to engage with the current debates on alternative housing models, and the solutions that are being sought on the continent. We also plan to visit friends and colleagues, visiting the studios of emerging and established practices to understand the challenges and opportunities facing practitioners as well as the methods they deploy to meet them.

Given the potential pending issues surrounding European travel arrangements, the exact details are to be confirmed with regard to timings and locations, but it should go without saying that we are acutely aware of the financial burdens that students face today. As such, we will endeavour wherever possible to limit the costs of the field trip. The final arrangements will be made in the first term, but the plan is to travel just before or after the Christmas break.

Workshops and Seminars

Over the course of the year, we will be working with an extended network of consultants and collaborators to enrich discussion, learn new skills and refine existing ones. Borrowing and yielding the tools of other disciplines will predominantly occur through workshops and seminars, timetabled to support and usefully disrupt the normal course of design work. We are in the process of organising the following:

Victor Buchli (Professor of Material Culture, UCL) Seminar: Architecture and Anthropogy

Daniel Miller (Professor of Anthropology, UCL) Seminar: The Comfort of Things

Dawn Ades (Art Historian) Seminar: Surrealist Objects

Max Creasy (Photographer) Workshop: Model and Still Life Photograpy

Riette Oosthuizen (Planning Partner at HTA Design LLP) Seminar: Planning and Regeneration in Suburbia

Pooja Agrawal (Harrow Regeneration Team / Founder of Public Practice) Seminar: Harrow Regeneration

Kellenberger–White (Graphic Designers) Workshop: Making Books

Jon Day (Author, Cyclogeography, Homing) Seminar: Writing and Reading The City

Isabel Pietri (Architectural Lead for Residential Development at Lendlease) Seminar: Architecture and Development

Rachel Bagenal (Director of Naked House) Seminar: Alternative Development Models

Paol Kemp and Emily Priest, (OMMX) Workshops: Various drawing workshops throughout the academic year


People

The unit is led by Hikaru Nissanke and Jon Lopez. Both graduated from the Architectural Association, and now direct London based practice OMMX.

OMMX build, draw and write about architecture. We believe that architecture gives form to our collective desire to understand and express who we all are. It can construct intimate portraits of different communities, from individuals and families, to companies, landscapes, cities and nations. OMMX is committed to this biographical process, to creating spaces that we can relate to and that help us relate to one another.

We have served a broad mix of private, social and public sector institutions, working on housing, private residences, galleries, offices, public spaces, festivals, exhibitions and shops. Selected clients include the V&A, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Design Museum, English Heritage, the British Library, Clerkenwell Design Week, Naked House and Marian Goodman Gallery.

This year we have been nominated for the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture and the Lisbon Triennale Début Award. We have also had recent successes in competitions organised by the American Institute of Architects, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the National Infrastructure Commission and the British Council. We were shortlisted to represent the UK at the Venice Biennale in two of the last three national competitions.

Our work has been published widely and we regularly contribute to architectural critique and discourse at institutions across Europe, recently participating in the Architecture Foundation event Introducing New Housing—“a presentation of the best architects and most progressive developers working in the UK today”—and at the Building Centre panel discussion Rethinking The Way We Live.

www.officemmx.com


Timetable Selected Bibliography

Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language. Fachbereich Architektur, 1990Brand, Stewart. How Buildings Learn: What Happens after They're Built. Penguin 2012Easterling, Keller. Subtraction. Sternberg Press, 2014Holliss, Frances. Beyond Live/Work: The Architecture of Home-Based Work. Routledge, 2015Gamper, Martino. 100 Chairs in 100 Days and Its 100 Ways. S.l.: Dent-De-Leone, 2012Lamb, Max. Excercises in SeatingLeupen, Bernard, and Harald Mooij. Housing Design: a Manual. NAi Uitgevers, 2018Scott, Fred. On Altering Architecture. Routledge, 2008Stark, Frances. The Architect & the Housewife. Book Works, 1999Thomas Schutte: One Man Houses. Richter Verlag, 2012Neufert, Ernst. Architects Data.Wiley-Blackwell, 2012Perec, Georges. Species of Spaces. Melbourne: West Space, 2009Pevsner, Nikolaus. A History of Building Types. Princeton University Press, 1997Pimlott, Mark. Without and Within: Essays on Territory and the Interior. Episode 2007Queneau, Raymond. Exercises in Style. Alma Classics, 2013Richards, J. M. The Castles on the Ground: the Anatomy of Suburbia. Faber, 2011Venturi, Robert. Complexity and Contradiction in ArchitectureLondon Housing Design Guide, Greater London Authority

Project 1 – Furniture

Project 2 –M

anual

Precedent Study

Project 3 – Building

Introduction

-

Workshop: Photography and Still Life

Seminar: Architecture and Anthropology

Jury: 1 – Furniture

Open Week

Workshop: Making Books

Seminar: Writing

Jury: 2 – Manual

Site visits

-

Field Trip

-

-

Jury: Precedent Study

Seminars: Planning and Regeneration

Open Week

-

Seminars: Development

-

TS3 Submission

Y2 Previews

Y3 Previews

Workshops: Drawings and Portfolios

-

-

Final Jury: 3 – Building

Portfolio Reviews

-

Y2 Tables

Y3 Tables

External Exam

Term 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Term 2

Term 3

This timetable is an indication of unit and school wide deadlines that we shall be working to, but will be subject to slight shifts and adjustments throughout the year as appropriate. We would keep students up to date of any amendments, but it should nevertheless serve as an illustration of how we will manage the available time over the course of the year.

Site Research, Observation and Recording

Documents

Building Stock' Extended Briefhousebuilders have developed a neo-vernacular architecture of ‘non-style’, embodying a distilled reflection of the British mindset. Their concentrated