by Dr Philp Graham - Director of Studies for Architecture and Design
To amplify the importance of place-making, and environmental and social value in the built environment, Homerton has an informal curriculum of workshops, trips and guest discussions for students of architecture and design. These have included our colleagues in Land Economy, so that the ‘Design Sciences’ - the study of what could be - might grow to complement the Natural and Social Sciences, being the study of what is.
A tour of the newly refurbished and substantially reimagined IBM building on London’s Southbank was a highpoint in our insight into environmental value. Originally designed by leading British modernist, Denys Lasdun, we learnt how architects AHMM have repurposed the building into 21st century office use. Such experiments in reuse will not only help our built environment stay closer to planetary boundaries but - in reusing materials too - will further shape an aesthetic that is leaving even recent but extractive buildings looking dated.
Led by an architect from the design team - and arranged by Homerton Fellow, Dr Robin Bunce - we were shown how cut concrete beams and salvaged panels updated the building’s circulation and organisation, whilst imaginatively turning waste and compromise into light reveals and cladding panels. Moreso, we discussed the design and procurement challenges of reclaiming steel from since-demolished buildings. These are vital lessons for our future architects, since material consumption plays a major part in making the built environment into the UK’s second highest greenhouse gas emitter by sector.
On our walk to the Southbank from Kings Cross station, we stopped to admire the Hillview Estate (built north of Cromer Street in 1893 by the East End Dwellings Company). Once notorious and condemned, we sneaked a look at the now green and active courtyards of this thriving example of municipal housing. Nearby, we looked at the sectional rigour of the Brunswick Centre (by architects, Patrick Hodgkinson), noticing how both schemes prioritise daylight, cross ventilation and the framing of active public space with ‘eyes on the street’. We also made time for a tour around the Sir John Soane’s Museum on Lincoln's Inn (with a sketching stop whilst we waited). Here, the lessons were again environmental, since Soane - like our future architects of denser, more urban living - had to make small spaces with restricted daylight feel specious and uplifting.
Our year of outings began, however, with an emphasis on social value, which we framed around a local visit to ‘Joy’s Corner’ on Baldock Way - a set of five modular homes for homeless Cambridge residents. Guided by Martin Clark - project lead and CEO of Allia Impact Ltd (a social purpose investor) - we learnt how building size (compact) and construction (modular and impermanent) were a function of the funding model and planning status using church land. We also learnt the importance of a sense of security, permanence, privacy and dignity that even simple housing can provide, as a stepping stone to employment, stability and longer-term housing. What could Homerton do to support future iterations of this idea?
One challenge that Joy’s Corner had to overcome was the politics of explaining the project’s social purpose to backers, planners and surrounding neighbours. To learn something of the art of storytelling - a foundational skill for architects - we were lucky to have an evening with the master of the ‘Sketchplanation’, Dr Jono Hey. A trained engineer turned design theorist, then UX designer and now, blogger, podcaster and author of ‘Big Ideas Little Pictures’, we heard about his 10-year project to draw one complex idea each week. Our workshop challenged Homerton’s students in Architecture, Land Economy and Design to draw each other’s subjects before having a go at an individual idea. Working in pairs of different fields, we learnt something about the wider scope of the ‘design sciences’ before joining the Natural Science’s subject dinner.
The middle part of the year included unique insights to public consultation and the benefits of a town hall-style feedback format for a more democratic design process. Here, the Homerton community of staff, fellows and students supported a final year design studio in Architecture to develop ideas for Homerton’s future masterplan made up of buildings, landscapes and wider estate. An exhibition of the students’ work will be displayed later this term, alongside a complete model of the College estate.
We wrapped up the year with a guided walking tour of the Accordia housing scheme off Aberdeen Avenue in Cambridge. Marking 10-years since it won the RIBA’s prestigious Stirling Prize, members of the original architect team showed us why this example of mid-density housing was - and still is - pioneering in its use of modular construction and rooftop gardens to maximise land use and community spaces.
That evening, we sat with Zohra Chiheb, Head of Development at Camden Living, a provider of affordable rented housing at Camden Council. For our students, her journey from architecture degree to public service via architectural practice, showed the range of career pathways that a design education can open up for graduates looking to maximise their impact.
For our future students of the design subjects at Homerton, there is an insight here to the sorts of systems thinkers we are looking for. Applicants should exhibit enough range in their subjects and skills that they can confidently discuss ideas from diverse fields in words and drawings - however messy. These observations should include a critical position on where buildings come from, how they are used, and what their environmental, social and political consequences will be.
