Dip 3

One:One

With an understanding that architecture is a problem of organisation, Diploma 3 explored material, geometric and structural systems by means of computational protocols. Networks, recursive patterns and fractal formations were investigated, and explicit or emergent forms of order were sought – from the articulation of a single component to its growth strategy, all the way to 

the agglomeration of larger assembly. Digital and physical form-finding processes were employed throughout in order to develop working prototypes.

The unit travelled to New York to study the redevelopment of Hudson Yards, where we focused in particular on the organisation of the public realm. We looked for place-making opportunities in the context of a masterplan that is driven by top-down commercial objectives and lacks any real public dimension. As an alternative solution we deployed strategies of intervention consistent with our own logic. Through assembling, sheltering, dismantling and screening our set of systems we developed a performative strategy for occupying the public realm. Our aim: to design a resilient built environment.