LSA Magazine Issue 2 (PDF) - University of Lincoln

ARCHITECTURECollaborationArcHitectureDesign is at the heart of Lincoln’s BA (Hons) Architecture programme, which is fullyvalidated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), equivalent to their Part 1qualification, as well as being prescribed by the Architect’s Registration Board (ARB).Assessment is through design projects which are developed in small studio groups underthe guidance of a design tutor. We think of the studio as a co-operative and productiveenvironment in which the student discovers his or her own voice as a designer.Twitter garden winsGold at ChelseaFlower ShowFrom the outset, the student learnsto apply drawing techniques forinvestigation and communication,together with computer-aided designtechniques and hands-on modellingand construction techniques. Studiesin history, theory, construction andenvironment are integrated with designprojects. The aim is to help the studentacquire a complete tool-kit of skills forarchitectural design and production.The first year programme is designedto release creative potential, exploredesign processes and lay a foundationof cultural and technical knowledge.The second year programme addressessocial, theoretical and contextual issuesof living in the contemporary city.Design projects aim to build confidencein responding with imagination, humanityand concern for the environment.The third year programme gives thestudent the opportunity to research,experiment and demonstrate thesynthesis of imagination andpractical resolution.According to the Architects’ Journal;7/26/2012, Vol. 236 Issue 4, p58-61,“The Lincoln degree show was a mixof styles and work-based themes verymuch reflecting the diverse range oftutors the school employs. This resultsin an interesting blend of projectsranging from well considered pragmaticsolutions which are clearly safe andcould commence on site tomorrow, tobold, futuristic schemes, which oftendo appear to overlook fundamentalelements such as structure in thesearch for aesthetic nirvana”.A unique digital garden created by the University of Lincoln won Gold at this year’s RHSChelsea Flower Show. Fresh garden “Digital Capabilities” responded to live Twitter activity,enabling the public to directly influence how the garden appeared at any one time.The impressive structure wasconstructed by a team of staffand students from the School ofArchitecture. Architects and LincolnSchool of Architecture tutors RichardWright and Barbara Griffin were bothapproached earlier in the year to jointhe team for the project. Their initialrole was to facilitate the constructionof the project, namely to construct aninnovative show garden for this year’sRHS Chelsea Flower Show in Londonwhich responded to online activity.The architects quickly entered intoa dynamic collaborative designrelationship with other areas of theUniversity: computer scientists,interactive designers, garden designersand even the Head of the School ofPsychology, who were all intrinsic to thesuccess of this project. Right from theinitial proposals, this multidisciplinaryteam generated a new garden designbased loosely around the originalconceptual underpinnings, and studentsfrom the School’s Master of Architecturestudents, together with Universitytechnicians, worked incredibly hard toconstruct the garden, spending manyevenings in the Architecture workshopin order to meet the tight deadline.The garden was divided diagonally byan autonomous-panelled screen whichseparated the planting of two distinctzones. A tapestry of familiar plantsand foliage then greeted visitors, withthe partially obscured exotic plantingbehind the partition providing a dramaticcontrast. The panelled screen respondedin real-time to the ‘buzz’ of excitementabout RHS Chelsea Flower Show, asmeasured by activity on Twitter using the#rhschelsea tag, with the inner depths ofthe garden only being seen when publicexcitement was at its peak.Davina McCall, Kim Wilde and JackDee were just three of the celebritiesspotted interacting with the gardenduring the first day of the show.Commissioned to provide the overalldesign was award-winning design duoHarfleet & Harfleet. Brothers Tom andPaul Harfleet share an interest in modernarchitecture and design innovation.Their first collaboration won an RHSGold Medal and ‘Best ConceptualGarden’ at the RHS Hampton CourtPalace Flower Show 2010.Designers Harfleet & Harfleet said:“The enthusiasm of staff and studentsat the University of Lincoln to realisethis ambitious project has been inspiring.The whole process has been challengingand rewarding and has evolved intoa beautiful conceptual garden thatrepresents the innovation in designthat we are fascinated in.”Go to the project’s website atwww.digitalcapabilities.comto find out more.Above centre shows the Master ofArchitecture students: from left to right:Christopher Lappin, Peter Stretton,Sean Pemble, David Richie,Josh Sykes, and Paul Nelson.45