Architectural Association School of Architecture / 2009-2010
Diploma 9 by Natasha Sandmeier and Monia de Marchi
"Architects have long used fiction as a tool: first to explore and design uncharted territories, and second as a presentation device. Fiction, both written and visual, is an experimental practice to try out spatial and relational ideas in the unconfined territory of an imagined world. This year we will invent fictions to theorise and visualise space and form.
This third year of the Iconic series will hover between fiction and reality, as the unit sets out to imagine our possible futures. While economic and cultural ambitions generally have shrunk drastically since we first introduced this agenda two years ago, the unit’s projects have followed a decidedly contrary path – becoming increasingly bold and far-fetched as the Dow Jones decreased. And so this year we will carry the momentum forward as we blur the line between the real and the imaginary, weaving fictional stories around and through our projects as we develop truly fantastical iconic proposals.
The unit believes that the icon is not only still possible, but is crucial at a time of waning optimism. The unit demands above all an unselfconscious and highly personal belief in architectural potential, imagination, criticality and profundity. This year we will push this to extremes as we use fiction as a device to stretch architectural, spatial and cultural boundaries. As in previous years, we will demand highly individuated student investigations into a deliberately broad spectrum of project considerations, including context, publicity, programme, image and beauty.
The students of Diploma 9 begin the year with the making of a highly personal, individual manifesto, whose expression frames the year ahead. This year your manifesto will also set up the fiction that will weave around your personality, project, site, and cultural context as you shape your icon. Taking account of the optical dominance of the way we view our environment, we place a heavy emphasis on the deliberate construction of images and scenarios to illustrate the manifesto. These images will exaggerate – even downright lie – in the telling of their tales, a quality we feel is a fundamental aspect of designing and manipulating an iconic image alongside its proposal and story.
Students will choose their own sites as they relate to the first project of the year. They will be real sites in real cities. Seminars on the topic will be held in collaboration with students from the MA in Histories and Theories throughout terms 1 and 2."
This third year of the Iconic series will hover between fiction and reality, as the unit sets out to imagine our possible futures. While economic and cultural ambitions generally have shrunk drastically since we first introduced this agenda two years ago, the unit’s projects have followed a decidedly contrary path – becoming increasingly bold and far-fetched as the Dow Jones decreased. And so this year we will carry the momentum forward as we blur the line between the real and the imaginary, weaving fictional stories around and through our projects as we develop truly fantastical iconic proposals.
The unit believes that the icon is not only still possible, but is crucial at a time of waning optimism. The unit demands above all an unselfconscious and highly personal belief in architectural potential, imagination, criticality and profundity. This year we will push this to extremes as we use fiction as a device to stretch architectural, spatial and cultural boundaries. As in previous years, we will demand highly individuated student investigations into a deliberately broad spectrum of project considerations, including context, publicity, programme, image and beauty.
The students of Diploma 9 begin the year with the making of a highly personal, individual manifesto, whose expression frames the year ahead. This year your manifesto will also set up the fiction that will weave around your personality, project, site, and cultural context as you shape your icon. Taking account of the optical dominance of the way we view our environment, we place a heavy emphasis on the deliberate construction of images and scenarios to illustrate the manifesto. These images will exaggerate – even downright lie – in the telling of their tales, a quality we feel is a fundamental aspect of designing and manipulating an iconic image alongside its proposal and story.
Students will choose their own sites as they relate to the first project of the year. They will be real sites in real cities. Seminars on the topic will be held in collaboration with students from the MA in Histories and Theories throughout terms 1 and 2."
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