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In Bruges: Belgian students present their plans for East London site

Submitted by Sophia de Sousa

This week I paid a swift visit to Bruges, where I sat on a jury to assess 3rd year Applied Architecture students from Howest University College West Flanders who have developed masterplans for a mixed-use site close to the Olympic village in East London.  Fourteen groups presented their ideas on how to transform an industrial canal-side site into a place to live, work and play. 

The students had visited the area in September and were struck by the scale, density and diversity of East London, all of which they tried to respond to in their final plans.

They were also introduced to some of the challenges currently facing designers and the development industry in the UK and in particular in London.

Some very interesting ideas were put forward, particularly around sustainable technologies, and some quite playful references were made to the site’s industrial past. There were also a number of really evocative and sculptural designs.

Given their limited contact with the site, it was of course challenging for the students to gain a real understanding of its social, economic and environmental context.

This led to some gaps in their ideas and provoked interesting discussion around context, accessibility, financial viability and the balance between public and private realm.

Above all, we explored the real challenges of achieving quality of place for those who will live, work and play on the site and for those who manage, service and maintain it. 

My parting advice to the students was to think of all of the people who will come into contact with the site, intentionally or through circumstance. 

To achieve quality of place, any designer must be informed by local context and understand the complex balance of local needs and aspirations.

*Thank you to lecturer Rob van Helvoort and his students for allowing us to show some of their design ideas in this blog.

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Glass-House and University of Sheffield AHRC Collaborative PhD Studentship in community led design

Submitted by Rebecca Maguire

Great news! The Glass-House and Bureau – Design + Research (a research unit within the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield) have been successful in securing an Arts and Humanities Research Council (www.ahrc.ac.uk) funded Collaborative Doctoral Award. The topic of this research will be community led design. It will investigate, within the context of community involvement in the design process across the UK and Europe, the practice and projects of The Glass-House since its inception.

The award:

• funds the UK/EU tuition fees and a maintenance stipend of approx. £14k for one person to undertake a 3 year PhD 
• both the University of Sheffield and The Glass-House will oversee the research collaboratively

What we are looking for: 

A person with a passion for community inclusion in the design process. The candidate could come from a range of fields – you might be a sociologist, an architect, urban designer, a cultural geographer, or have other knowledge and experience.

You will be creative and passionate about the future, as well as the history and impact of, community led design, and feel that this is the right time for you to commit to the research over the next couple of years

Now more than ever, with the ‘Localism’ Bill currently going through parliament, communities are potentially being given the opportunity to play an active role in the physical and social regeneration of their neighbourhoods. However, far too many development and regeneration projects still fail to really include the community or develop an effective brief that draws on the aspirations and potential of local people. 

It is now well recognised that allowing the public to have a say in the shaping of their environment leads not only to better physical outcomes, but also to empowered communities that are active in enlivening and managing their regenerated places and spaces. Indirect benefits can also include increased employability, improved physical and mental health and more cohesive communities. Surprisingly, very little study into this field has been undertaken at this level. 

The collaborating partners are keen that the research should produce a tangible resource to support design practitioners in their work with communities, as well as informing future policy and practice. 

Application info:

If you are interested in applying for the PhD studentship please apply via the Postgraduate Application Form at http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply and mention in your application that you wish to apply for this project.

Applicants must be UK or EU citizens and be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom. Further information on eligibility requirements is available from the AHRC website (Annex A): http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/GuidetoStudentFunding.pdf

If you have further questions about the area of research, please contact:

Prue Chiles at the University of Sheffield +44 (0)114 222 0312  p.chiles@sheffield.ac.uk

Rebecca Maguire at the Glass-House t: +44 (0)20 7490 4583 e: rebecca@theglasshouse.org.uk

Deadline for applications 15th July with interviews at the end of July, with a view to beginning the studentship on 1st October.

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