Level 7: Year One
Intervening in the City.
Introduction:
In 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, a farmer found the remains of some Roman pottery in a field. An Archaeological dig was arranged and undertaken by Leicester University, and what was discovered was a large rural Roman villa and associated buildings which covered a total of 5 hectares. At the centre of the discovery was a large Roman mosaic, depicting a scene from the Trojan Wars. The final excavations on the site were completed in 2022, however the project asks the questions:
What would a visitor’s centre look like on this site? What would be its role, not just in interpreting the site, but also dealing with the ecology of the surrounding area? And how would it relates to the activities of the existing farm?
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The project poses the following lines of enquiry:
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How do we respond to cultural changes within Society? and how are these changes reflected in the buildings that we design?
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To what extent can/should architecture act as a catalyst for change? or be reflective of change within a setting?
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How do we as Architects respond to the Climate Challenge?
The brief encourages the apprentices to explore the environmental, cultural and social aspects of the future of contemporary living.
