In Unit 13 we embrace the small, strange, subversive and unexpected aspects of everyday life to make magical architectural proposals. We use literary fiction and film as methods for spatial explorations and we approach architecture as a medium capable of revealing the hidden magic of ordinary experiences, giving spatial form to narratives and ideas.
This year, students worked across analogue and digital media, engaging in processes of intersemiotic translations between text, drawing and modelling. Fourth-year students designed individual buildings, while fifth-year students developed larger worlds at the scale of neighbourhoods or small islands.
Central to the unit was the creation of spaces that are atmospheric and full of character, informed by literary techniques such as the free indirect style, where multiple voices and viewpoints shape spatial imagination. Students were encouraged to design environments that suggested emotion and ambiguity rather than fixed use. Emphasis was placed on figuration, colour and the development of detailed storytelling, with a critical perspective on the world, while also linking to the students’ personal histories and identities. Material exploration played a key role, with students using rendering alongside clay modelling and hand drawing to test and translate ideas. Detail and scale were treated as storytelling devices, capable of conveying realism, intimacy and wonder. Ultimately, the unit framed design as a critical and imaginative act, where wondrous architecture became a vehicle for social and political reflection.
Ifigeneia Liangi
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.
