Remember 2084.
This year, the final year IAD designers have been imagining what our futures may hold. Projecting 60 years ahead of the present day, the brief explores what it might mean to contend with large scale societal changes in response to some very real contemporary conversations.
Prelude.
The rise of generative AI systems and virtual/ augmented reality technologies in the mid-2020s has paved the way for a society heavily reliant on artificial thinking and virtual production. These technologies have rapidly replaced the traditional model of work and production, leading to a fundamental shift in societal and governmental constructs.
The creation of the reimagined Roche Abbey gatehouse has become a symbol of resistance against artificial means of production. The preservation of local crafts has provided a sacred space that inspires renewed production and appreciation of objects detached from digitisation.
Introduction.
It is the year 2084 in Yorkshire, England. Much of the country has been altered by the effects of climate change, leading to a migration of the population into densely populated cities. The widespread adoption and dependence on privately controlled AI and virtual reality systems have resulted in a loss of individual privacy and the abandonment of public spaces. Consequently, the country’s heritage and traditional cultural practices have faded, giving way to a mainstream consumption-based and virtual monoculture.
While wandering through the vacant countryside and remnants of once-established habitats, you come across ruins in the serene and picturesque valley of Maltby Dyke. Upon settling here, you gradually discover that the ground is rich in archaeological remains.
You stumble upon a particularly intriguing relic from the past that captures your attention, along with some common finds. The unfamiliar relic’s allure and enigmatic qualities captivate your interest and imagination. Although its origins, purpose, and the stories of its previous owners remain a mystery, you are convinced of its unfamiliar and extraordinary essence, and significant intrinsic value.
With each passing day, your fascination with this unusual artefact deepens until one day, while inspecting and disassembling the relic, you make a discovery that leads to a revelation. This revelation inspires you and ignites an alternative way of being that’s detached from your familiar society.
Now, at Maltby Dyke, the site where your extraordinary discovery was made, you embark on adapting the ruins to create a series of spaces inspired by and in memory of the relic: a space for introspective reflection (meditation); a space for collective celebration (worship); a space to explore and to replicate variants of the relic (workshop); and a space to house the original relic (tomb).
The combination of spiritual and sacred spaces will form a monument to a counterculture movement dedicated to the relic and its symbolic representations.This brief requires an understanding of the systems through which we assign value to artefacts and objects. How does one distinguish the inherent qualities of the relic amidst the multitude of archaeological discoveries scattered around Maltby Dyke? Is it through the materiality, texture, form, marks, function, or assemblage? How does the relic ascend to become, in the words of Adrian Forty, an “object of great desire” that’s worthy of remembrance?
Relic.
As a crucial element of your research, it is essential to undertake a series of meticulous visual studies on the chosen relic. Through this exploration, you will become an expert on this captivating artefact. Armed with comprehensive knowledge, you will then be able to imagine a compelling future narrative - a counterculture movement inspired by the relic that resists the prevailing monoculture, accompanied by associated symbologies and practices, and the design of a Tomb and associated spaces to house and to remember the existence of such a relic.
Relics are chosen from the following list:
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Vacuum tube analogue amplifier
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Rotary telephone
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Mechanical adding machine
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Analogue television
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VHS player and VHS tape
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Enigma machine
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Mechanical harmonograph
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Barrel organ
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Zoetrope
Site.
Roche Abbey is a 12th-century Norman Gothic church and Cistercian monastic monastery, situated in a romantic and picturesque setting in the countryside of South Yorkshire.
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Roche Abbey fell into ruins, and its buildings were incorporated into Sandbeck Hall. In 1774, the hall’s grounds were landscaped with a design by Capability Brown, aimed at creating a picturesque setting to display the abbey ruins. Today, the ruins remain one of the best-preserved ground plans of any Cistercian monastic site.
The ruins themselves have accumulated centuries of memories, artefacts, and embedded meaning ingrained into their arrangements, forms, and surfaces. You will adopt the ruin structures, expanding/linking them where appropriate, to house a Tomb and associated spaces for your selected relic. The spatial proposition, relic, and site must eventually intertwine to establish a rich and meaningful experience.
