Our Clerkenwell Design Studio Welcomed Blueprint for the Future

Our Clerkenwell Design Studio took part in Blueprint for the Future (9-11 July), a three-day showcase of work from the UK’s brightest architecture students. Partnering with Blueprint magazine as well as other international design brands to create a trail of exhibitions throughout Clerkenwell, we hosted the Mackintosh School of Architecture, part of The Glasgow School of Art.

We welcomed 10 of the school’s students to present their theses on a diverse range of ideas. In displays of their work, they each gave a fascinating glimpse into the bright future of architecture and how it can be used to overcome the challenges of culture, diversity and the environment.

Benjamin Pole looked at how maintaining an industrial presence could create a richer, more democratic, civic place, while Geraldine Ho took on the spatial and social relationships between city districts. For her thesis, Hannah Dawood tackled the ever-present challenge of air pollution to secure the trail’s Blue Riband recognition (awarded to one student per school), while Kleovoulos Aristarchou looked towards the regeneration of Barcelona’s abandoned industrial sites. In All the World’s a Stage, Laura Tutty proposed returning water to the docks of Antwerp to reengage the residents of the city with nature.

For Memory Forum, Liam Price explored how an understanding of the memory, identity and culture of a place can inform the creation of architecture. Muhammad Zuhayr Mohd Zaki’s thesis presentation was based on the use of historical buildings for Antwerp’s Maritime Museum. Receiving a special mention for his work, Tom Deacon also took an international approach, looking at the Swedish Civil Contingency Agency in Stockholm and its reuse as a temporary fire station. Yanni Su brought the worlds of art and architecture together with a 300m long groundscape split into eight parts for an events-rich land. The final participant, Xin-Suan Khor explored architecture as palimpsest, with a programme for a new museum and archive centre dedicated to the Spanish Wall.

We were blown away by the clever thinking of these students and the solutions they found to the challenges of today were hugely impressive. It was also great to welcome so many of today’s current generation of architects and designers keen to discover how today’s best architecture students might shape their world. We can’t wait to see what buildings they create in years to come.