Dezeen School Shows: an AI research lab and data centre composed of modular cubes is included in Dezeen's latest school show by students at Bartlett School of Architecture.

Also featured is a school that nurtures friendship and creativity through architecture and a project informed by the Black Forest's traditional timber houses.

Bartlett School of Architecture

Institution: UCL
School: The Bartlett School of Architecture
Course: Architecture MArch (RIBA/ARB Part 2), Architecture BSc (RIBA/ARB Part 1), Architecture MSci (ARB Part 1 and 2), Engineering and Architectural Design MEng (ARB/RIBA Part 1, CIBSE, JBM), Architectural and Interdisciplinary Studies BSc
Tutors: Marjan Colletti, Kostas Grigoriadis, Ana Monrabal-Cook, Max Dewdney, Sara Shafiei, Luke Olsen and Elizabeth Dow

School statement:

"The Bartlett School of Architecture is one of the most exciting, innovative and creative architecture schools in the world, where students learn today to build the world of tomorrow.

"The institution teaches an expansive programme of architecture degrees at both undergraduate and graduate level.

"The school's annual summer show shares the creative and thoughtful work of its students with a global audience, both online and in person.

"The diversity of projects and resonance of thematic concerns exhibited allows audiences to explore what is meant by 'architecture' and what it could be."

Silvertown Battery Park by Chia-Yi Chou

"Silvertown Battery Park is a scientific testing ground that portrays every possible and impossible technology. It is an off-grid energy infrastructure and a vibrant public space for local communities.

"The park demonstrates bold and trivial science imagination in a playful and immersive manner. The working infrastructure celebrates the industrial history and brings Silvertown into the next stage of transformation."

Student: Chia-Yi Chou
Course: Architecture MArch
Tutors: Laura Allen, Mark Smout and Tom Budd

Laminated Vessels – Moulding a Hostel from Flat Sheets by Joe Johnson

"This project explores the design and fabrication of moulded timber components – laminated geometries with curvature in more than one plane, using a method that results in nearly zero waste.

"The project examines how curvature can be drawn from developable sheets of veneer. Digital simulations engage with the flat sheet as an active collaborator in design, leaving space for the simulated material to interpolate between programmatic constraints.

"Close attention was also paid to the pattern marker. By nesting the patterns to achieve full use of the flat sheet, reciprocal relationships between the spaces were formed through their shared curves. An Amsterdam site was chosen to develop a scheme for a hostel with a market running beneath it."

Student: Joe Johnson
Course: Architecture MArch
Tutors: Nat Chard and Emma Kate Matthews

Timber Tinkerland School by Reem Taha Hajj Ahmad

"This project focuses on creating a timber tinker-land school that nurtures friendship and creativity through architecture.

"The school aims to provide a unique learning experience by encouraging children to engage in hands-on activities such as tinkering, sewing and painting.

"It emphasises the design of glulam columns and explores their adaptability to facilitate various forms of interactive play and engagement with the architectural structure.

"Complementary elements such as DIY-treated fabric and playful clamps are incorporated to enhance the design's flexibility and creativity.

"By fostering friendships through imaginative play and storytelling, the school aims to create an inspiring and nurturing environment for children and the surrounding community."

Student: Reem Taha Hajj Ahmad
Course: Architecture MArch
Tutors: Izaskun Chinchilla Moreno and Daniel Ovalle Costal

The Obelisk, The Aqua and The Repository by Momchil Petrinski

"The project is a civic centre located in the Helwan Industrial Area, Cairo, Egypt. It explores the themes of contextual disturbance as water source pollution, disruptive structures, harsh climatic conditions and an exploitative brick production industry.

"The centre responds to these conditions in a number of ways. This includes terraforming the desert landscape and providing sustainable water filtration, a holistic approach to local brick workers by hydro-healing in a bathhouse (the Aqua), congregation around artefacts (the Obelisk), and multidisciplinary learning and exchange between brick workers, stakeholders and Fairtrade Foundation in a reimagined hypostyle hall (the Repository)."

Student: Momchil Petrinski
Course: Architecture MArch
Tutors: Ricardo de Ostos and Isaie Bloch

The Stories in the Shadows by Jatin Naru

"This project finds its inspiration in the bountiful pine wood and traditional timber houses of the Black Forest, entwined with timeless folktales.

"It serves as a literary outpost for a nearby university, paying homage to the Brothers Grimm and embracing the essence of Naturepoesie. Its spaces evoke both awe-inspiring grandeur and tranquil havens for literary introspection, capturing the spirit of the forest.

"Paying homage to a human tradition spanning millennia, the stories themselves are intricately carved into the architecture, creating an enduring archive upheld by devoted craftspeople.

"Thoughtfully positioned openings bathe the interior in forest light, unveiling the reliefs within the shadows, casting a captivating spell of storytelling and craftsmanship."

Student: Jatin Naru
Course: Architecture BSc
Tutors: Maria Fulford and Joerg Majer

Synthesising Earth by Phoebe Hampson

"The project delves into the journey of Paul Pignon, a prominent figure in Belgrade's electronic music scene during the 1980s.

"Returning to the city, he endeavours to spread his experimental and liberal ethos, providing an outlet for Yugo-nostalgia through unconventional music-making methods and underground events.

"The building evolves in three stages: Pignon establishes an independent radio station in an abandoned warehouse, fostering a community of musical artists and culminating in a vibrant summer festival.

"Embracing a synthesizer ideology, the architecture employs rammed-earth construction and curated aggregates to craft spaces with diverse acoustic properties, harmonising materiality and music."

Student: Phoebe Hampson
Course: Architecture BSc
Tutors: David Di Duca and Tetsuro Nagata

Convoy's Wharf Colour Factory and Learning Centre by Pasathorn Srichaiyongphanich

"The Convoys Wharf project in Lewisham, London, seeks to preserve the historic 19th-century cast iron structures, integrating a secondary timber enclosure that pays homage to shipbuilding.

"It includes artist studios, a learning centre and an indigo farm producing paint. Referencing traditional craftsmanship and historic pigment production, the project challenges future development plans, creating an experimental space for community engagement.

'Residents are invited to actively shape the future of their community through this innovative initiative."

Student: Pasathorn Srichaiyongphanich
Course: Architecture BSc
Tutors: Katerina Dionysopoulou and Billy Mavropoulos

Anansi and the Reincarnation of Achilles Street Estate by Tabatha Crook

"This design research investigation examines folklore, religion and fiction as a reaction to the pragmatic, uninventive strategies currently applied to London's social housing estates.

"In a city that prioritises profit, estate strategies focus on adding as many units as possible while neglecting the broader needs of those reliant on housing support.

"By using fiction to discuss social housing more positively and laterally, a different conversation is created about improved living conditions, emotional intelligence, intercultural understanding and personal narratives.

"As illustration, a storybook/animation mixes 'new' and 'old' in Lewisham's Achilles Street Estate within the traditional folklores of its residents."

Student: Tabatha Crook
Course: Architecture MSci
Tutor: Murray Fraser and Farlie Reynolds

The Woodland Street Manifesto by Toby Prest

"This design research investigation examines the role of the tree in London, critiquing current planting and maintenance strategies to propose productive urban forestry that benefits the city both ecologically and materially.

"How can London's street trees be enhanced to create a sustainable source of timber which also empowers local communities?

"The focus is on the journey from sapling through to a building material as a process that helps to reintroduce London-based local resource systems and specialised architectural forms.

"Accompanying aims are to mitigate the inequity of street trees between wealthier and poorer districts, and to cut house construction costs."

Student: Toby Prest
Course: Architecture MSci
Tutors: Murray Fraser and Farlie Reynolds

Crafting Domesticities for an Ecology of Care by Jessica Ho

"How can we navigate the necessity for denser urban habitation with a culturally and socially responsible approach towards heritage?

"The project aims to deconstruct the notion of dwelling as a set of commodified, unitised parcels of bedroom, living room, etcetera, and to instead propose a flexible domesticity based on a granular approach to rituals of care.

"This is explored with the overarching theme of promoting shared cultural and artistic expression, fostering wellbeing across communities and an appreciation of the local heritage."

Student: Jessica Ho
Course: Engineering and Architectural Design MEng
Tutors: Yasemin Didem Aktas, Yair Schwartz and Daniel Ovalle Costal

AI Pixel Parasite by Andreea Dumitrescu

"Located on the former site of Coleg Harlech in North Wales, this proposal is an AI research lab and data centre, contrasting and complimenting the existing structures.

"It explores how artificial intelligence can be used collaboratively to design a building that builds itself, learning from its surroundings and itself to continuously adapt and improve.

"The building is composed of modular cubes, placed and organised through machine learning algorithms to optimise environmental impacts and conditions.

"Powered by a nuclear battery developed by ANPEG, its dynamic growth evolves to meet the progressing demands of the data centre in an intelligent and adaptable framework."

Student: Andreea Dumitrescu
Course: Engineering and Architectural Design MEng
Tutors: Luke Olsen, Filip Kirazov, Aurore Julien and Matthew Heywood, in collaboration with ANPEG

Mourning in Bytes: Cyberpilgrims in a Hypothetical Hellscape by Daniel McCarthy

"'Mourning in Bytes: CyberPilgrims in a Hypothetical Hellscape' explores the profound emotional significance of virtual connections within online fandoms.

"By examining parasocial relationships and the impermanence of idolised figures, the project delves into the experiences of loss and grief in these virtual communities.

"It sheds light on the interplay between fan perceptions and the constructed mythology surrounding bands, investigating the idolization process and the creation of god-like narratives by fans.

"The culmination of the project is the construction of a virtual pilgrimage, providing devoted fans with a memorial space and an immersive experience that subtly confronts the ephemeral nature of idolised figures."

Student: Daniel McCarthy
Course: Architectural and Interdisciplinary Studies BSc
Tutors: Freddy Tuppen and Kevin Green

X-RAY – The Embodied City – Whitechapel, London by Architecture BSc Year 1 Students

"The main building project of the year was X-RAY – The Embodied City, sited in Whitechapel around the Royal London Hospital.

"This project investigated how the design of buildings can nurture health and well-being. Students considered elements of architecture that might encompass medical and non-medical practices, and practised alternative and lateral thinking to address some of the bizarre, mystical, profane and spiritual aspects of health.

"Students stepped into the shoes of the architect-surgeon, in order to learn to 'diagnose the city' by examining selected sites and surrounding environments."

Student: Architecture BSc Year 1 Students
Course: Architecture BSc
Tutors: Year 1 Design Team Tutors

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Bartlett School of Architecture. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.