Competition Entry

What is it that we can do with the continual increase of abandoned petrol stations across London? There is an opportunity to use this land which is often in expensive locations for more than simply building a residential housing tower above it. The proposal looks at the potential of how we can firstly incorporate a centre for recharging of electric cars that are hired out on a daily to weekly basis which provides small, fast and economical transport to London.

Secondly the scheme looks at a greater need. Firstly looking at how we can incorporate the elderly back into society and use their knowledge and skills to benefit us. So many elderly residents in London are often being forced to move to the countryside to retire which often is not what they want, being moved away from the family and friends. Elderly are often more at ease with the potential of not having so many possessions and simply want somewhere that they can socialise, shop and feel safe.

The second element of the proposal looks at how using shipping containers, low budget housing can be added to an area. The containers allow for the potential of expansion by being able to join two together and provide the feeling of community with integrated shops, newsagents, dry cleaners, cafes and restaurants.

The opportunity for interaction, safety, relationships and connection with the family is huge, as well as still being an important and integral part of London's society. The idea even allows that if the Grandson or Grandaughter needs disciplining that they can be sent to Grandma's or Grandad's and they will sort them out. The scheme also offers the potential to work with Freitag and Smart.

The Gopher Hole, Old Street, London, EC1V 9NQ

Read more at the somethinkfunky blog

The way in which we exhibit is under attack. In recent years curators, gallery owners and collectors have seemingly dictated what we, the observer, should find thought-provoking. Prior to the Great exhibition of 1851, there were concerns that Britain was lacking in training in the fields of art and industry. The solution was to create a platform on a grand scale to showcase to the world what Britain had to offer.

We feel that this idea of a platform has been forgotten. We propose to reinstate this idea by curating a series of exhibitions titled only by subject allowing those involved to express their true creative inner desires. This should represent a genuine account to what is current in that particular field of creativity. Due to the current economical climate it has become more and more common for young people to either continue with their studies or to work for companies, both scenarios conclude in the creative individuals being restricted. These restrictions are applied through briefs and project managers, which tend to constrict creativity in exchange for box ticking and profit.

By using a series of underground London based galleries and venues we would like to give these creatives the opportunity to showcase their work using a collaborative stage. This will become an opportunity for these young creatives to work in an open fashion, allowing individuals to be free to think out of the box and develop new ideas.

IRIS are an advertising agency based behind the Tate Modern, London. They have offices all over the world and work with the likes of Orange, Puma, Adidas, Sony Ericsson and Wonder Bra to name a few. The agency has a work hard, play hard policy. The proposal is to demonstrate a way in which the company can redesign their existing building, working more to the notion of the nomadic worker and how the company can bring something back to the community.

The design includes a hive like structure that spreads out of the building like a virus. The hexagonal structures become the only private spaces in the building that are only for IRIS, reinforcing the need for actual office space and private space for the company. This notion is reused in the design of the hexagonal sleep pods based on one of the floors. A place for privacy and self indulgence. IRIS will provide open studios for the public which will demonstrate workshops and places to learn new skills. The top floor includes a bar and restaurant which provides a place to take clients to be wined and dined whilst being able to look out at the views. The building demonstrates the possibilities of learning how a workspace is used in nature by creating a beehive like design throughout which includes sleep pods, work space, relaxation, education and play.

Final Major Project

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The rebranding of the idea of 'elderly', 'old age' and 'retirement' to 'the knowledgable'. Many skills that were developed during the first and second world war have been lost. London became a city based on finances but as the banks failed and the recession hit the City; London is having to turn towards technology and the creative industries to push forward the economy. David Cameron has announced that East London will be the hub for creativity and the main focus point and drive for Technology, expanding the ideology to Stratford with the rejuvenation of Greenwich Peninsula and the development of the Olympic Site. There is a general opinion that Britain should become how it used to be, a country of construction and making, Made in Britain. Some of these skills of craftsmanship have been passed down generation to generation, but having that Britain can't compete with the low cost mass construction in the middle east, it is in high quality products where the economy of Britain can be rejuvenated.

Retirement should not be seen as an option to stop working, but as a way to continue and create a new lease of life in ourselves. We do not retire to die. We retire to express ourselves freely and use all the skills that we have learnt in our lifetime to our own benefit. This can be in an entrepreneurial sense to create our own businesses or help to give something back to the community by teaching and educating the less fortunate. To become the knowledgable. As Socrates states love is the quest for knowledge, to become a Lover of wisdom, and by doing so one will give birth to intellectual children of greater immortality than any conceived through procreation.

Aberrant Architecture

Shortlisted competition project

The South Kilburn Swap Shop is a collaborative marketplace in which the inhabitants of South Kilburn and the wider area can explore the rising trend of collaborative consumption: an explosion in sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping. People can meet and exchange their unwanted goods and items for a range of different products and services. They can participate in a variety of events or workshops. It is both a physical space and an online network. It is both social and commercial.