2007 - 2008
Architectural Association
Intermediate Unit 6

UnitStaff

Jonathan Dawes
Dagobert Bergmans

Students

Ioseb Andrazashivili
Cristina Asenjo Del Rio
Erin Dickson
Merlin Eayrs
Tala Fustok
Friedrich Grafling
Neill Grant
Andreas Huemer
Caroline Kielmanovicz
Tamim Salah El Din Negm
Kyunglim Park
Jiehwoo Seung
Silvana Taher

Technical Consultant

Martin Waters

Visiting Critics

Cécile Brisac
Ricardo DeOstos
Shin Egashira
Edgar Gonzalez
Marco Guarnieri
Nate Kolbe
Dominic Papa
Stephen Sinclair
Brett Steele
Simon Tucker
Tom Van Arman
Ellis Woodman

Thanks to

Victoria Bahia
Javier Castanon
Marilyn Dyer
Yuji Fukui
Antonia Lloyd
Tokyo Geidai University
Kosuke Shikata
Trystrem Smith
Michael Weinstock

Paper constructions, Cristina Asenjo del Rio perforate solids, Neill Grant Cracked resin, Silvana Taher Internal reflections mapped, Silvana Taher Eroded foam, Merlin Eayrs Unravelled cube, Jiehwoo Seung Inhabitation studies, Jiehwoo Seung Melted constructions, Tamim Negm Layered surfaces, Tamim Negm Shibuya temporal analysis, Fred Grafling Expanding/ Contracting programme, Fred Grafling Brothel/ school hybrid, Merlin Eayrs 1:10 scale construction, Merlin Eayrs Inter modal hub, Cristina Asenjo Del Rio Layered spaces, Jiehwoo Seung Underground studios, Jiehwoo Seung Unit meal


Ghost in the Machine

Ukiyo-e, fictional representations made famous by Hokusai and Hiroshige each captured fleeting parameters from the real world, depicting extreme social and economic change through cultural happenings and changing habitats. This became our starting point, which followed a journey from material experimentation to critical invention. Propositions focussed upon London’s Kings Cross and considered the physical and social impact of its current transformation.



Scissors/ Paper/ Stone

The year began by exploring the latent potential of materials through folding, melting, casting, laminating and other techniques. Each artefact began to reveal a number of unexpected material effects: delamination, slippages, expansions and cavities. Emphasis was given to propagation of specific qualities through the iterative development of patterns or taxonomies. .



Ghost patterns

Sectional representations of each construct offered a topological unravelling, revealing pockets, interconnected cells or nested elements. Representational techniques were tailored towards the clarification of material outcomes and their inherent formations. Inhabitation studies and reconstructions were used to unearth the potential of each.



Tokyo: Floating world

A field trip to Tokyo, Japan gave the unit an opportunity to study the urban territory of Shibuya. Built situations interwoven with infrastructure and analogous to the earlier models were studied through their patterns of use, topology, or organisation. This fieldwork yielded an alternate scale and drew out specific narratives for consideration. It also provided a framing of programme, inhabitation and temporal criteria at the intersection of fleeting situations and a previously abstract material context.



Ghost writing

The unit operated both individually and as a collective to research and publish strategic propositions for a site in the shadow of Kings Cross station. Individual proposals formed into a range of different approaches: new layers of public realm or amenity in response to the current deficit or provided variegated constructions accommodating otherwise incompatible uses. Others have inhabited redundant rail lines with new linear accumulations of cultural programmes or nested formations responding to St Pancras, Eurostar and the new and varied influx of travellers.