We live in an increasingly interconnected society. We can facetime relatives on the other side of the world and can have conversations with ChatGPT. But we are also witnessing the erosion of dialogic exchange and the ability to listen to each other. This is not listening in the sense of surveillance, but of being open to hearing what someone else has to say and creating the possibility for human connection.
This year, Unit 6 was interested in all things conversational. The word conversation can be interpreted literally. It can also be a metaphor for the construction of relationships between things, and between people and things. Buildings, and the spaces that surround them, accommodate all kinds of formal and informal encounters, generating the ability to gather in convivial and caring – as well as adversarial – ways. We can see this in familiar building typologies from parliaments and schools to hairdressers and allotment sheds. Buildings create relationships with each other, such as through visual connections and orientations, mirroring and echoing architectural forms, and via spatial and programmatic links.
Projects were based in Westminster and Lambeth, and the work of students considered and responded to the histories and opportunities presented by these areas.
Naomi Gibson
Stephen Davies, Maria Venegas Raba
Technical and practice support: list of names to go here, comma separated.
The MArch Architecture is a two-year full-time or three-year part-time programme offering exemption from ARB/RIBA Part 2. It combines rigorous professional training with creative and speculative design exploration. In the first year, students join a themed design unit to undertake a creative building design project combined with a technical and professional report. In the second year, students pursue a comprehensive speculative architectural design project, and an in-depth theoretical thesis tailored to their personal interest. The programme fosters independent thinking, innovation, theoretical and technical excellence, preparing graduates for advanced architectural practice and ongoing professional development in a dynamic global context. See further details on our prospectus page.
