In our studio entitled: ‘Communities & Contested Spaces’ (CCS*) the design process focuses on people’s everyday experiences of architecture and how we – as citizens/architects – may better engage with the communities and places we encounter especially in the context of current unfolding political, economic and environmental crises. Architecture demands a negotiation of shared and contested space(s) as well as the considered use of local and global resources to create positive and sustainable change; and is therefore, we believe, a political practice. Our decisions impact the experiences and stories of people that will eventually use the buildings and the places we help to design and create.
The studio’s theme this year was ‘Water’ and in particular exploring water-infrastructure as a site for cultural & social production.
In semester 1 the project (‘Space for Storytelling’) was set in the Lake District at the active Thirlmere Reservoir just outside the Market Town of Keswick. The programme was a space for a storyteller (or poet or playwright) – a space for cultural production.
In semester 2 the project (‘Social Reservoir’) was set in Liverpool, at the decommissioned covered reservoir in Toxteth working with the reservoir’s local owner Dingle 2000 Development Trust Ltdand a range of social enterprises located nearby to develop a creative reuse of the reservoir into a mixed-use piece of social infrastructure – a space for social production.
Across both semesters, students met with a range of possible clients, architects, makers and experts in their respective fields to better understand the briefs and the proposed programmes. This included visits to their facilities and places of work and organised talks.
Studio CCS* staff are engaged and active in political discourse related to the built environment in Liverpool, Manchester and further afield. We bring this expertise and experience into the studio, enabling practice and research informed teaching.
Studio Students
Ashworth, Rebecca
Aulak, Ria
Berry, Morgan
Brady-Hoyle, Abbey
Brangwyn, Caitlin
Carrilho da Fonseca, Ines
Chen, Xi
Chen, Yinhai
Chen, Ziqi
Dai, Xinru
Davis, Sophie
Delaney-Hall, Alexander
Ding, Yanwen
Duan, Chongyuan
Gao, Chuanlin
Gao, Huanyue
Gao, Tianyi
Guo, Yefei
He, Zhengcheng
Huang, Xinyi
Humphrey, Rebecca
Hussky, John
Jin, Siwang
Knight-Parfitt, Holly
Lee, Yung Wing Wien
Liu, Yuheng
Lu, Lanxin
Panchev, Plamen
Song, Yufeng
Tadman, Sean
Tong, Xin
Wang, Jiaqi
Wang, Shuting
Wei, Wenxin
Xu, Zihui
Yang, Yuxi
Zhan, Panyuan
Zhang, Boran
Zhang, Dayong
Zhang, Tianzong
Zhao, Xiayu
Zhou, Xiaofei
Zhu, Qi
Studio Staff
Hazel Weir
Anna Gidman
Michael Southern, Architectural Emporium, Liverpool
Paul Bower
Dr Ranald Lawrence
Guest critics
Professor Iain Jackson
Dan Gibson Gibson Architects
May Tang Heatherwick Studio
Lucretia Ray
Peter Farrall
Alex Dusterloh
VP or special guest
Matthew Bellwood Moveable Feast Productions, Leeds
YHA (Keswick & London Euston)
Becky Vipond, Clare Owens, Caspar Jones & Squash team SQUASH Food shop, Liverpool
Grace Harrison Kitty’s Laundrette, Liverpool
Marianne Heaslip URBED, Manchester
Roger O’Hara & Mark Clarke Dingle 2000 Development Trust Ltd
Dr Stuart Gee Environmental Consultant, LSA
Greg Beattie Engineer Consultant, LSA
Alma-Nac London
FCB Studios London
Foster + Partners London
Heatherwick Studio London