Year 5 MArch Thesis The Bartlett School of Architecture 2013
Stephen McCloy EU: The Gardens of Fantastica Tutor: Oliver Wilton In this project the present is the future, where the past is revisited and 2013 is reconsidered in an alternate history. The thesis asks: What if we had cared about sustainability in 1945? What would the European Union be like if sustainability was its founding medium and driving force? Looking back, we might imagine a position where European cities are required to be self-sufficient in food and energy. The project began with storyboards to illustrate a speculative archaeology, examining an article about the fictional world ‘Fantastica’ extracted from The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Manguel and Guadalupi. Fragments of the article begin to define a set of rules with which to speculate this alternate history. Clues of gardens, art and culture are traced to Paris, home of Surrealism. The events leading up to the foundation of the EU after WWII are reimagined, where concerns about sustainability: Energy, Food and Cultural Security, become key policies, and each states 5 year leadership term showcases both the aims of the EU and enables special focus on national concerns.
Paris undergoes rapid change during its term hosting the EU, leaving a legacy of infrastructure and knowledge that will continue to improve and safeguard the city until the EU returns in the future. Grand projects, such as those undertaken in Paris by President Mitterand are reimagined, and the nature of landmark architecture and cultural palaces within the modern day city, from the point of view of energy, food and community sustainability are proposed. Through a literary review and research of historical contexts and technologies, combined with design, the thesis investigates an allegorical situation in an effort to deal with some of the major issues of the 20th century and suggest futures for 21st century politics and cities. It notes other architectural visionary works for Paris, from Haussmann, through Le Corbusier and Yona Friedman, to the present day. Image: A squadron of artificial clouds oversee the daily operations of the new Parisian food and biomass infrastructures.
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