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Materials for Change was an investigation into the relationship between the city, the body, architecture and space. The project brief operated at three scales; 1:1 scale of the body, the building scale and the city scale. We examined whether built structures, as well as the clothes, actions and identities that surround us and are expressed by our bodies, are tailored to our needs.
We analysed six linear territories in London. In the first phase, we focussed on understanding the scale of the city and buildings in relation to our body. In the second phase we delved into the design of independent propositions for small buildings. This project allowed us to use the magic and the power of design, as a tool for imagining other realities, to create new spaces. Imagination needs freedom of expression and relies on the memory of past lives, places, events and cultures. We have created a new series of tailored and liberating spaces, within which the body can thrive and become an act of empowerment.
Projects based in and around High Holborn are represented below.
Taking advantage of the derelict building fabric and the existing inactivity, the project reimagines the abandoned site as a new habitat for fireflies. It aims to provide a space for users to engage with the wonders of nature through observation.
Street art is often seen as a form of vandalism. The project aims to celebrate graffiti by providing a place for local street artists to create freely. The facade is designed as a series of moving elements, an outdoor street gallery.
The design of this communal tearoom on Little Russell Street focuses on creating forced social interventions through spaces that rely on those who use them. Furniture, crockery, roof and structure are all designed with the collective in mind.
The building is a stage. It collides elements of theatre production, writing and rehearsal while interrogating the performances inherent in our everyday lives. It encourages these performances and shelters its users, the theatre-makers.
The building is a tailoring workshop, comprising a series of garment production processes. The workshop offers an alternative circular socio-economic system where the public is encouraged to trade in fabric in return for a new garment.
The project proposes a tie-dye workshop on Museum Street, which utilises fruit, coffee and vegetable waste to create natural dye. The programme acts as an activator for an otherwise overlooked and abandoned site in Holborn.
The proposal is a Workers' Guild that aims to provide a distinctively intriguing space for workers in the area. The building activates a space that is waiting to perform. The use of copper horns in the facade allows rumour and gossip to travel.
This is a studio for a contemporary designer-maker who works with traditional handloom weaving. Situated in what was an area for master craftsmen, the space is designed to host a resident weaver, referencing centuries of cottage industry on the site.
A commercial building for the growing and selling of flowers, as well as the harvesting and consumption of herbal tea. The building is imbued with the history of Seven Dials, which is reflected in its layout.
The proposal, situated in Shorts Gardens, is for a hand-made jewellery emporium, celebrating the history of arts and crafts in Covent Garden. Referencing the cartoonist, Heath Robinson, the building becomes a contraption, a form of craft in itself.
The project aims to provide a space for cleansing before pub crawlers head home. Strategically located on the rooftop of a local pub, the architecture embraces light, water and steam to create a calming atmosphere for intoxicated pub users.
The building programme accommodates unique dining experiences that cater to all. The project brings in a variety of eating cultures that are integrated into a singular space, creating a new merged landscape of dining within High Holborn.