University News Last updated 13 July 2017
Graduating students from the four disciplines that make up the School of Architecture and Design recently came together to celebrate the end-of-year show as part of the Inspired Festival. The exhibition was a culmination of three years of hard work of Final Year students from BA (Hons) Architecture, BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture, BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design, and BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design.
The Inspired Festival, now into its fourth year, showcased the exceptional creative talent of all of the students across the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media. The Festival celebrated the wealth of creative talent being nurtured and developed in the region, with visitors across two weeks including key industry contacts and members of the public.
The wide array of work on display included everything from delightful versions of everyday products, to existing spaces transformed with techniques of replanning, light and colour. Students revealed their considered responses to multi-layered sites across Europe and the UK, showcasing new and progressive ways to engage with public space and post questions around climate change, sustainable development and more.
A key element of the celebration evening included industry sponsored prizes across all disciplines. For BA (Hons) Architecture, accrediting body the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) handed out a number of awards including a drawing prize, bronze and silver medal nominations and the RIBA President’s Award Dissertation Nomination.
BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture welcomed accrediting body the Landscape Institute, who awarded a prize for Undergraduate and Postgraduate work. WS Atkins also gave a prize, alongside an award for the Eagle & Ball live project undertaken with Wilmott Dixon and the Student Union.
A number of awards were given to BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design students, including Creativity and Communication, and BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design celebrated the prize-winning work of Tom Howell-Jones amongst others.
It wasn’t just the Final Years who had the opportunity to showcase their expertise as part of the Inspired Festival. First and second year students from across the school came together to create a number of key elements essential to the activities of the week.
The Festival kicked off at the beginning of June with a Family Day, inviting local families to come in, explore the University and take part in workshops and sessions designed for children. A group of BA (Hons) Architecture students worked alongside academics to create the session based on the theme of journey, memories and holidays. Visitors were invited to join in a giant drawing on the floor containing all of the best journeys they have ever been on, using pens, crayons and pencils.
A second group of students worked on a pop-up pavilion for the courtyard of the Parkside building. The pavilion needed to be designed with a number of events in mind: the Family Day, the Industry Night and the Architecture, Festival and the City Installation in November.
As many of the visitors through those events come from industry, the pavilion had to stand up to a high level of scrutiny. It needed to look great, but also be able to withstand any weather conditions between June and November. Students were asked to consider how the light would come in, what type of temporary floor covering to use, and how the structure could represent the four disciplines within the School.
The final events week brief asked students to conceptualise, design, fabricate and construct four bars within an eight day timeframe. The bars, used for the Industry Night, were located around the Parkside building. Using the skills the students developed in their first year, the multi-disciplinary teams aimed to make design statement whilst also building a functional space. Students were split into three teams; design, make, and build. Each team had to work in conjunction with each other to ensure the bars were finished in time for the event – they also helped serve the drinks afterwards.
Click here to see more Inspired 2017 highlights from across the faculty.
