The Master of Architecture programme has a long-term engagement with the architecture of housing, through both research and project work. It has long since been identified that there is a crippling housing crisis in the UK. However, despite widespread recognition of the problem, solutions to this complex web of issues – which include affordability, shortage, supply, design and sustainability – remain scarce. These issues in contemporary housing form the basis for the principal building design project of the second semester for the MArch Year 1. The alignment of student research and projects to contentious, real-world challenges is deliberate, as these students will shortly be practicing within this enviroment. The political context of this critical aspect of the built environment forms the backdrop for consideration of how to address the pressures and demands of providing for the residential needs of future generations. The cohort was divided into three groups, which then explored these issues across a diverse range of scales, densities, contexts, typologies and narratives. Common themes wove through the projects however, such as sustainability and the fundamental issues faced in addressing the challenges posed by Britain’s chronic housing shortage. The six week design project is supplemented with environmental, structural and interior design studies culminating in the production of a detailed physical model.
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Liverpool John Moores University - Architecture 2018
