The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
About the Bartlett School of Architecture
Location London WC1 • Courses BSc (Hons) Architecture, MArch, Architecture MSci, Engineering & Architectural Design MEng • Head of school Amy Kulper • Full-time tutors 79 • Part-time tutors 85 • Students 1693 • Staff to student ratio 1:12
Undergraduate
Joe Russell
Course BSc (Hons) Architecture
Studio/unit brief Reformulating Practice (Unit 0)
Project title Tightening the Green Belt: Oakwood Mews, Enfield N14
Project description Sited where city turns to countryside in Enfield, the project addresses green belt policy. The policy – implemented to prevent urban sprawl – is argued to be a contributor to London’s housing crisis. The site, opposite Oakwood underground station, is 200m away from Cockfosters tube depot, set to be demolished and rebuilt. It is proposed that the disused depot’s materials would be salvaged for housing and a community centre. It adopts a hyper-localised approach to material sourcing. Ultimately the project aims to propose a ‘right way’ to build within the green belt.
Tutor citation A thorough, mature and original project. We asked students to reflect on what British architects do today, and whether there should be a rethinking of the way practices operate. Joe’s response was unexpected but all the better for that. Murray Fraser and Michiko Sumi
Postgraduate
Annabelle Tan
Course MArch
Studio/unit brief The Progress Paradox (PG Unit 11)
Project title Past, Present and Post-Tropicality
Project description This project is an investigation into notions of ‘tropicality’ in Singapore, for which, historically, nature, comfort, civil behaviour and progress have been shaped by depoliticised agendas grouped under this umbrella term. This climatic determinism has shaped the landscape and architecture under neocolonial guises of globalisation. The project therefore ‘unmakes’ colonial vestiges of success and ‘remakes’ a landscape of ‘affordances’. Spanning 4.2km, the scheme is a socio-ecological continuum, linking a threatened forest to a national nature reserve.
Tutor citation Annabelle’s project is complex and multilayered. Her work is at pains to clarify and explore numerous architectural scenarios as well as the checks and balances inherent in the programme to produce a holistic response. Laura Allen and Mark Smout