AA

Shifting Landscapes explores notions of local and land. We focus on managed and rural landscapes in the UK, documenting their evolving territories through a critical lens to initiate discussions on land use and preservation. We examine how the unique topographical, geological and cultural identity of these territories can flourish by reimagining their political, social and environmental conditions.

The unit explores architecture as a spatial process of collaborative and material engagement that unfolds over time. By investigating different ways of inhabiting spaces and existing ecologies, we work to generate unique building cultures and distinct local vernaculars, building with the landscape and offering a hopeful perspective as we look towards a carbon neutral future. Architecture is not stagnant; it is instead an ever-evolving physical and social landscape that we record, use, question and draw inspiration from, to design spaces that respond to these restless conditions.

We explore, research and design through processes of making, and exercise rigour and curiosity to work at a range of scales and using a variety of approaches and media. Through collaboration and discussion, by developing our contextual understanding, and by making intelligent use of materials and construction methods, we generate an architecture of generosity and resilience.

Tutors: Nichola Barrington-Leach, Caroline Pepper