AIA Student Charrette 2021 - A Tale of New Cities

*Photo: Students absorbed in their work... Credit: Agnese Sanvito*

Peering apprehensively through the rain streaming down the windows of the Building Centre, the organisers of this year's Student Charrette started the day considering the very real prospect of a wash-out. Luckily, it wasn't long before they spotted the first competitors gamely wading through the sodden streets of Bloomsbury, to be rewarded with steaming cups of coffee and an endless buffet of pastries. As more students arrived for the day's competition, it became clear that an autumn downpour and early start were hardly enough to dampen the fires of competitive architecture, and this year's event saw a particularly strong student turnout representing universities from Dundee to Plymouth.

The day started with a presentation from Roca, the event sponsors, followed by an introduction to the competition brief. Given the Building Centre's location in Bloomsbury, the brief lent heavily on the area's literary heritage, using local resident Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities to set the post-pandemic mood ('It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...'). The brief asked the students to design an intervention to draw visitors back into the heart of London and offered the small crescent in front of the Building Centre as the competition site. Prioritising a sustainable approach, students were asked to question how their structures might be disassembled and repurposed, and to carefully consider how they might use their interventions to express a broader vision for the post-pandemic city-centre.

*Photo: The Building Centre front show room and café, taken over by busy students… Credit: Agnese Sanvito*

This year's charrette sought to ensure that all students who wished to take part could do so with minimal financial burden. In support of the Chapter's commitment to diversity and inclusivity, AIAUK provided students with all model-making and drawing materials, and a pre-printed competition pack of site-plans, site photos and elevations. Alongside the breakfast, lunch and drinks provided over the course of the day, there was also an offer to reimburse travel expenses where necessary.

After a frantic day of designing, the students presented their designs to a panel of three jurors, composed of Katharine Storr, AIAUK president and architect at AHMM, Rebecca Nixon, architect at AHMM and a previous winner of the chapter's Noel Hill Award, and Simon Aldridge, architect at Aldridge Atelier. Each team had five minutes to present their proposals and five minutes to receive feedback from the judges, who enjoyed a series of inventive and well-considered presentations from teams representing Hertfordshire, Bath, Nottingham Trent, Loughborough, Dundee, Reading, Ravensbourne, Westminster, Brighton, Sheffield, Plymouth, London South Bank, and the University for the Creative Arts.

Proposals ranged far and wide in their sources of inspiration and expression. The judges discussed musical installations, giant rope hangings resembling cobwebs, a furniture making factory-cum-street party, elegant mirrored and suspended sails, and a book exchange programme, before retreating to their chambers to determine the winner over a restorative glass of wine. During deliberations, students enjoyed their own, well-earned drinks in the Building Centre's gallery.

*Photos: It was all about teamwork and a little bit of controlled chaos…*

Finally, the judges emerged to declare the team from UCA Canterbury the winners for their whimsical proposal to line the streets of Bloomsbury with rain-powered music-machines. Having arrived at the charrette drenched, the students were able to turn their misfortune into an evocative starting point for their design process, which carefully considered how sound could be used to draw visitors into the heart of Bloomsbury. The judges felt they answered the competition brief successfully and praised the team for the sensitivity of their design and their vision for a city that celebrates its connection to the natural world and encourages visitors to think more carefully about their connection to site and climate. Runner-up prizes were also awarded to the teams from Bath and Sheffield for their community-focused proposals.