Dip Unit 23 Yr4: James Barrington, Francis Gilks, Justin Goodyear, Richard Lipson, Matthew Shaw; Timothy Taskor, Katrina Varian, Andrew Yorke. Yr 5: Jonathan Duffett, Thomas Dunn, Dale Elliott, Kristof Hanzlik; Matthew McTurk, Sara MohammadiKhabazan, Thomas Shelswell, Joseph Swift
Protoarchitecture Protoarchitecture is part real, part ideal. It is a proposition that is prompted by vision rather than convenience. It may be plural or singular, evolutionary or revolutionary, temporary or permanent. It is at once a construct of the physical and the virtual. It does not conform. It is by definition, an exception. The unit operates a two year plan, beginning in Y4 with a small building design project. This year, it was ‘live’; to design and if luck has it, to build a small mobile space for experimental theatre with the Central School of Speech and Drama. We named this protoarchitectural investigation ‘from the ideal to the real’ and exhibited the work at CSSD in March. This was followed by more experimental and speculative ideas on performance, for which we built prototype after prototype. Ending with a work in progress, Y4 students have already begun to carry individual agendas into their final year. Y5 students meanwhile work from prototype to protoarchitecture, ending the year on a speculative visionary proposition fuelled by personal belief in the direction of their practice. It’s always surprising, it’s always diverse, it’s always made, it’s always collaborative, and it’s always architecture.
Bob Sheil and Emmanuel Vercruysse
Show Cat 08.indd 152
Clockwise from top: Model case at ‘Perform’ (CSSD April 2008), Ric Lipson, Timothy Tasker.
12/6/08 17:41:57