Ateliers.
Each year, our final year architecture designers join a specific atelier in support of their interests and ambitions. The below explanations discuss the 2024 atelier options, and the ways that they have been explored.
Atelier 01:
Cabinet of Curiosities:
An Urban Oasis
Introduction:
Humans have been collecting objects for over 2,000 years. As children, many of us collected shells, stamps, or cards. Originally, a “cabinet” referred not to furniture, but to a room that housed collections. During the Age of Exploration, European aristocrats created Cabinets of Curiosities, or Wunderkammern, filled with exotic specimens like shells, taxidermy, coins, and pottery. These early collections reflected a desire to categorise and understand the world and were precursors to modern museums, influencing fields like natural history and anthropology.
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Today, museum design focuses on engagement, sustainability, and community. Architects and curators collaborate to create accessible, flexible, and inclusive spaces that go beyond display—inviting interaction, learning, and participation.
Studio Tutors:
Stephen Banks
Annie Duquemin
Topics:
The Modern Museum: The evolving meaning of museums as places for experiences and connections.
Inclusive Practice: Ensuring museums welcome diverse audiences and represent a range of voices.
Engagement & Interactivity: Engaging visitors through hands-on and digital experiences.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Designing for reconfiguration to adapt to changing exhibits and users.
Educational Spaces: Areas for workshops, talks, and hands-on learning across age groups.
Community Collaboration: Through co-creation, residencies, and maker spaces.
Integration of Nature: Outdoor spaces & functions to extend the museum beyond its walls.
The Project:
In this project, students designed an inclusive museum for Newark—a community and educational hub with indoor and outdoor exhibitions. Themes ranged from local history to personal interests, reimagining what a museum means for future generations.
Atelier 02:
Urban Monastery:
A Sanctuary of Reflection
Introduction:
With the global population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and 68% living in urban areas, architects must rethink cities to meet the demands. Urban design should offer spaces of rest and balance within the chaotic, fast-paced environment of the modern city. In this context, Atelier 02 invited students to design an Urban Monastery—a sanctuary that reinterprets the historical monastery as a space for reflection, congregation, knowledge, and spirituality.
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Historically, monasteries housed prayer, learning, and self-sufficiency. Today, they can inspire architecture that supports wellbeing, learning, and community. Projects explored the following key themes:
Studio Tutors:
Gabor Gallov
Ben Harris-Hutton
Topics:
Congregation: Bringing people together around shared purpose, rituals, or learning.
Reflection: Creating peaceful, sensory environments using form, light, and material.
Craftsmanship: Emphasising the poetic and skilful use of technology and materials.
Knowledge: Reimagining the monastery as a centre for learning and exchange.
Spirituality and Sacredness: Redefining sacredness for today’s society beyond religious tradition.
Nature: Integrating gardens and open spaces to support wellbeing and public interaction.
The Project:
In this project, students designed an URBAN MONASTERY for Newark, that served as a sanctuary of reflection. They challenged the traditional notion of a monastery as a religious building and thought about it as a place for congregation, with a particular focus on reflection, knowledge, craftsmanship or spirituality. The brief was flexible, allowing students to develop their own interests, but projects had to include key monastic elements, be sustainable, and use both indoor and outdoor spaces.