This work is a summative reflection of the final stage of a part I architectural education.

The project takes a focus on a design process exploring: site, concept, formation, detail and eventual resolution of scheme which becomes tied to its landscape: in Balloch, on the shores of Loch Lomond. It exists as a true reflection of the needs of its client, Sistema Scotland; a charity endeavouring to bring music and a sense of community to children of all ages and backgrounds.

There is a delicate edge between public and private in this project as the client requires a safe, intimate environment for potentially vulnerable children to retreat to, learning music whilst buried in a new landscape, for any time from a few days to a few weeks.
However, the second arm of this scheme requires a public space, a space that the students feel belongs to them but also one which ties the project back to the community of Balloch.
A performance space becomes the end point of the musical journey the students have embarked on during their time in the musical retreat. The phrase “celebration” is one I feel encapsulates the atmosphere this space should hold as it signifies achievement and camaraderie.

This scheme wholly represents a journey, both physically and metaphorically.

Finn is currently on exchange to the Universität Liechtenstein. The last semester has undoubtably been challenging; starting the semester in a new country and choosing to stay through the pandemic. The work shown here is from this period, under Atelier Urs Meister and Carmen Rist.

The semester began with the development of a pedestal, which set the parameters for the project.

The primary design move – reflecting the past, by literally enveloping the footprint of the old courtyard, reflects this idea of a palimpsest. What was negative space becomes ‘space’. The scheme avoids, by mimicking the pre-existing, becoming a pastiche. On the other hand, it strives to not disregard the site, and its social/historical requirements.

The studio manifests a rigorous method of designing at every scale, starting from the micro to the macro, and this is reflected in the complexity and ambition of the proposal.

During the four months spent in Liechtenstein Finn has managed to expand his skillset in CAD and renderings in Rhino, producing work that is accomplished, despite the constraints created as a result of the pandemic.

In the educational process of becoming an architect. Awarded the 2017 Harvard summer School scholarship.
Inspired by nature and the beauty of elegant simplicity.

Lily is a RIBA part 1 graduate whose work is unique and playful. Social commentary and strong conceptual strategy inform her practice. Lily’s recent projects are highly polemical. With a spirit of invention and interrogation, she seeks to create inclusive spaces that will engage with the richness of a site’s community, landscape and history.

Lily’s achievements include Young Creative Awards 2016 for Architecture & Design and multiple ERASMUS scholarships to live and work in Germany, Romania and Slovakia. As well as working on many 1:1 builds, Lily is passionate about craft and heritage and is skilled in a multitude of disciplines including illustration, textiles and jewellery design.

Lily is primarily concerned with the social sustainability of the built environment and creating empathetic and accessible designs that facilitate empowerment.

I have greatly enjoyed studying Architecture over the last three years.  Throughout my last year, my interest has been focused on philosophical thinkers in architecture and I have sought to understand some of their processes and theories. This has had a considerable impact on my work and thinking. It has pushed me to be more concerned with the process and the understanding of such, rather than, simply, the resultant set of drawings. I am currently working on a design book for the shown project. Having completed three years at the Mac, I am now looking forward to joining a practice as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant and gaining an understanding of other architects’ processes and how they allow a project to manifest itself in today’s age.

The project shown is of an activity’s centre and residential retreat, in Balloch, designed for Sistema Scotland. Sistema focusses on transforming children’s lives through music – offering group musical tutoring and social guidance to children and young adults in some of Scotland’s challenged areas.

The site stretched approximately 680m from the tourist office on Balloch road to the beginning of Loch Lomond and mostly consisted of green areas and forestry. I chose to design near the tourist office and engage with the urban material. Ultimately it was asked what this place meant to Balloch and what this place would mean to the children attending Sistema.

For the children it was a place of release, practice, and celebration: release from the day-to-day city life and a chance to experience a rural environment, of forests and picturesque views; practice of their instrument and social development within the Sistema program; and the celebration of the practice, by their performance in the activities centre hall.

To the people of Balloch the place served as a threshold between the urban and natural landscapes. It consisted of an uninviting gravel car park just off Balloch road. At the back of the car park was a grassy earth berm, that once you passed over, you were alleviated of all urban sounds, with no rumbling of cars or zinging of hedge trimmers. All that was left was you and a quiet path through a forest to the start of the loch.

I aimed to build on this change of scene, by placing two objects in the landscape that are experienced differently from opposite sides.  The two objects inform pedestrian movement and enhance the threshold between the urban and natural environment. Their material and structure take on a poetic quality that influences the experience of the passer-by and the child attending Sistema.

Jordon Lim is a RIBA part 1 graduate born and raised in Singapore, who explores architecture as a medium for social engagement.

Being raised in a rapidly developing country, he acknowledges the disjunction of architecture. He believes that architecture should be thought with inclusiveness, to allow a whole community to thrive.

His works are based on research focused on experiential spaces, to enrich a given context with the opportunity of seeing and learning how environments can tell stories and communicate emotions, create formative moments, and provide a stage for public life.

Athia Syed
I am in final year of my bachelor’s degree at the mackintosh school of Architecture GSA.

Kacper Ryske is a Polish artist and prospective architect currently studying architecture at the Glasgow School of Arts. In 2018 he went to Germany to do his exchange semester at the Bauhaus-Universität where he completed a project that challenged conventional working patterns. Based on building flexibility and the optimisation of evolving working dynamics, Kacper explored the impact of rapid technological development on creative industries and data storage. This seminar became a profound influence on his architectural style and approach to building design since. After the semester, Kacper trained as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant at Studio LIN Architects Urbanists in Berlin run by the German architect Finn Geipel. LIN is a laboratory for architecture, urbanism and design that focus on creating flexible and adaptable solutions that continue to intelligently and sensitively respond to the specific needs of their users and environments over time.

In his recent projects, Kacper strives to find the balance between the measurable and immeasurable. In the soulless, technologically induced environments full of repetitive forms that we experience today, Kacper seeks to harmonise the human scale and satisfy the complex spiritual needs of humanity in his projects. He believes in order to achieve an atmospheric quality, design based interventions within the built environment should resonate with human action, place and cultural context. The concept of Stimmung by Martin Heidegger has influenced Kacper’s design solutions and has become the atmospheric vehicle of his design intent to “carry the human language” through architecture. Taking his inspiration from phenomenological other figures like Kenneth Frampton, Studio Mumbai and Alvaro Alto, Kacper endeavours to explore if sustainable, efficient and flexible solutions may coexist with the poetic phenomenological architecture in order to achieve a holistically fulfilling environment for its users.

Zoë Hyatt is a RIBA part 1 graduate of The Mackintosh School of Architecture. She approaches every project with empathy and care and is concerned with community empowerment and site specific sensitivity. Zoë’s projects often reference the vernacular with particular emphasis on Scottish heritage.

Zoë prioritises the needs of the client and skilfully combines efficient design with creative solutions for social sustainability.

Growing up in Glasgow she is passionate about giving communities a voice and has been involved with community engagement throughout Scotland. When working with WAVEparticle she helped with workshops and a series of government-supported charrettes. Being part of the arts organisation taught her to approach her own projects more creatively and with an open mind.
She prioritises context specific design and tailors each project to the specific needs of the local community. She believes sustainable architecture should empower and celebrate the community in which it is sited.

She is interested in the use of traditional craft and knowledge in a contemporary context. She has taken part in 1:1 builds including a Lime burning ‘working party’ with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Through practical experience she seeks to gain a better understanding of the materials and construction and is eager to build upon this skill set.

Zoë has a pragmatic approach to design and has fostered a practice based on investigation and understanding. She is compassionate and navigates her work in order to enrich people’s experience of landscape, culture and community.

This project is an accumulation of two separate parts comprised of a residential retreat and performance hall that together create an approach for a sustainable, sociable and environmental masterplan. In situation with the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond, the concept is for an exciting client known as ‘Sistema Scotland’. Sistema is a charity programme that aims to transform the lives of children from challenging communities through the power of music. Whilst the primary aim is to develop core musical skills such as listening, concentration, teamwork and rhythm skills the secondary aim of the programme is also to develop social fluency and health and well-being. With such inspiring targets an equally aspirational and multi-functional building is needed: a building that is first and foremost a safe space; as well as an idyllic retreat where they can contemplate and reflect; a space where staff and pupils can free themselves to become immersed in creative experiences; and somewhere that can easily be personalised to suit the needs and preferences of the various individuals who will visit.
On my first site visit to the town of Balloch, enthralled by the picturesque landscape, the question occurred to me; in which way as a designer can I create a concept for a building that captures and compliments the natural untouched beauty already present? This burning question, along with my innate desire to create environmentally conscious creations was the catalyst for my completed design. To study the important relationship between Architecture and nature, I embraced the study of Phenomenology, which, when interpreted by and through human consciousness, seeks to understand the outside world. The belief of German Architecture theorist and Phenomenologist, Martin Heidegger, is that all man and nature are connected. He suggested that the best way to create an experience is to be more in touch with the mystery of existence. In architectural terms it is my challenge to create these experiences, which in turn create lasting, tangible memories. To make these memories more vivid I engage all of our human senses by manipulating materials, space and light. To truly embrace the theory of Heidegger my design also strives to bring man and nature closer together. By creating opportunities where we can submerse ourselves in nature Heidegger believes the more we will truly experience phenomenology and be at one with our consciousness, and once experienced, will have a lasting effect on how we view our world. It is my hope that through various design techniques and choices, a strong essence of the contextualism of nature and the experience that comes with that can be appreciated throughout the imagery of my Project.

Chloe Spiess is an American architect in training. Spiess graduated with her B.S.Arch from the Ohio State University in 2017 and proceeded to find work in an architecture firm in San Diego for two years. During her time at Ohio State, her interests in architecture focused on considerate design reflecting the history and needs of a place.

“each of us is not simply a machine “sleeping, eating, drinking, and performing its numerous other animal functions- but also seeing, touching, and remembering familiar associations and all the other intangible activities of the mind and soul; all of which I personally believe are of far greater importance and in far greater need of consideration than our purely practical functions in life.”
– Alexander Girard

The project – a physical critique on the present-day relationship between labour and domesticity, developed in three phases and scales: a cell unit, a masterplan, and a housing block.
For the working parent, navigating the time/interaction between labour and domesticity is crucial, for their own well-being, the well-being of the next generation, and the impact of their labour and dreams. I believe that by increasing living arrangement flexibility, “sharing” the burden of domestic labour between genders and under-employed neighbours, providing opportunities for rest, wonder, and exploration, working parents and their families will have more time to focus on what they deem most important.

The Cell – I started with a double-unit 2-story cell with a shared terrace for an inter-generational family, wrapped around a tree. Crucially, each unit possessed an independent entrance. As I adapted the initial cell to the form generated in the masterplan, the stair-and-tree-well lost the tree and was pushed to the edge of the unit, creating a filtered-light effect and providing a green-house-like effect inside.

The Masterplan — was the result of the collective work of Samuel Us, Tess Hillan, Gabriella Togni, Norbu Verhagen, and myself. Multiple courtyards take the central idea of my cell and expand it with gardens and plazas in the centres. As a prospective development along the high street of Glasgow – Trongate, we felt that such a project had a duty to provide an alternative to the commercialism of the surrounding area. Towards this aim, we imagined a series of public, semi-public and resident-only open spaces to make up for the lack of similar spaces in the Merchant City.

The Block – The block of the masterplan that I chose resides in the South-Western corner of the site. Hedged by the main street of Trongate and the side-street of Hutcheson, the block is a sandwich of dental offices, live/work units, a creche, a grocer market on the ground floor, housing in the middle, and entertainment (badminton court, petting zoo, community garden, café/bar, and therapy offices on the top with a view of the magnificent Merchant City skyline.

Graphic style – During the last few weeks of the project, I was also reading a book about Alexander Girard – pioneering designer of the mid-century modern movement and friend of Charles and Ray Eames. His playful use of colour and texture inspired me to go wild with my graphics, as well as add a kinetic rain-screen to the deck-access units.

Lillianne is a Norweigan Part I student, and has attended The Mackintosh School of Architecture since the beginning of her Bachelor. Her professional portfolio includes work from London as well as freelance work in various places of Norway.

Her stage 4 work is an exploration of how a building may serve as an asset in creating a sense of community, and how it can engage with the public creating interest of the program of the building.

In Urban Housing, the thesis sought to explore the notions of ownership in housing by utilizing an economic model that generates lower cost housing for affordable, long-term rental. By assuming the risks and working directly with the end users, the architect secures the viability of the project and removes the profit of the developer. The proposal of NO OWNERSHIP MODES adjusts the concept of fideicomiso to work with the state, meaning the state funding be used directly by the architect to produce housing at a lower cost and without the need of a developer. Engaging in a direct design process with the residents seeking socially rented housing would revolutionise the current notion of renting housing that does not respond to the needs of the end user.

In Urban Building, VESSEL FOR PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY creates an accountable form of governance – for a time of crisis – expressed as a citizens assembly. Provoked by the definition of a civic building as being where every resident has a shared claim on the resource, the programme represents a symbiotic relationship between politics, people and the ecosystem. The architecture aims to establish an alliance with the environment by cultivating and re-wilding the landscape. The seating plan of the VESSEL FOR PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY discards the form of the current house of commons, that can be interpreted as an expression of the political culture that it has helped to shape, us and them.

Throughout my time in stage four and the project shown I chose to analyse the foundation of home design, that being the nuclear family, and how this foundational assumption could be modified to provide a more modern and successful outcome.

With peoples living conditions becoming less permanent, roommates coming and going and people waiting on average longer to have children I wanted to design a small yet adaptable unit with could be adapted by its resident to suit their needs. and although the private spaces are small they are arranged around much larger common spaces which will be shared and inhabited by all residents equally which include communal kitchens, living/dining spaces and play spaces which would encourage and support a strong social bond between those within the building.

The project was completed within a group masterplan from which the output was to revitalise the area through the lens of a fragmented school, with each building of the master plan containing a feature of the school (sports facilities, assembly halls, dining etc.) and residential space above, giving the newly occupied area a function in its own right, to use as a foundation from which to interact and function with and within the wider city.

ShihLin Tseng, stage 4 architectural student.

Occasionally love architecture.

You don’t need to know me, contact me, if you want to know me.

Cultural and technological shifts in the recent years have contributed to the increasingly blurred distinction between living and working, where we are no longer organised by the traditional 9 to 5 workday. Contemporary forms of labour involve entire life of workers and their spectrum of social relationships- relationships reliant on technology to mediate real-life interactions to a degree to which social isolation and loneliness are now considered a serious epidemic in the UK. These shifts are, to lesser and greater degrees interconnected with forms of living closer together.

The proximity of the site to the City Centre and transport links provide an opportunity where it is able to accommodate various commercial and residential uses where they are able to flourish. With housing shortages, inflated prices and increasing levels of loneliness mean that shared living models are becoming more relevant.

At the basis of this thesis lies the ambition to rethink the idea of housing as an apparatus where form, economy and dwelling converge. The project implies a new social contract in which housing is driven no longer by traditional forms of ownership, but by a cooperative contract among inhabitants that allows them to live together by sharing spaces and facilities that would not be possible within the confined orthodox typology of a “house”.

Cultural institutions based on historical formal social structures have stopped working well. I propose non hierarchy architecture as civic institution. It is an open architecture that the servant space and the served space are switched and the functions are changed from time to time. This building functions as a library in everyday life and as a concert hall in Extraordinary. The building has a open ceiling space in the center with a gentle slope surrounding it. The slope allows you to go up and down without division, creating a continuous space and bringing the experience of connecting the city to the ground.

Social experiences and equality remain at the core of design intentions.  Bridging the fragmented gap between social divisions and the young and old within Merchant City is crucial. Spaces for education and cultural exchanges form inter-generational bonds, while strengthening the social and civic infrastructure maintains a cultural link to the existing urban context. The idea of combining education, as a form of public and private labour, with domesticity arose from a study of the urban demographic, where the lack of family-orientated activities maintains transient experiences within this district of Glasgow.

Many artists’ studios exist in the east end and south side of Glasgow, but not necessarily in the heart of the city. Proposing a building with a significant exterior, carefully balanced with an ephemeral interior best describes Merchant City as a whole. The proposed building with its brick and arched façade sits well within its context, even with a seemingly institutional appearance at first, it is intended to be a permanent structure, changing periodically internally and reclaiming the aesthetic of a building which is otherwise formal and controlled and giving it back to the people of Glasgow.

Jackson Deans is a multidisciplinary designer from North Yorkshire. He specialises in architectural design, graphic communication and illustration. With a fondness for bold and brutal forms, his work draws from 20th century Post-Modern, Metabolist, and Brutalist architecture that feeds into all aspects of his work. Whilst studying in Stage 4, Jackson has designed two large-scale architectural projects relating to domesticity and labour in the urban context of Glasgow.

‘Urban Housing’ explores the relationship between not only domesticity and labour, but the broader district in which our site is located, and a masterplan design was established in order to discuss vital social issues within the district. The project is presented from the large scale of the city down to the small scale of an archetypal dwelling, or ‘cell’ that forms the larger build up of the housing complex.

With ‘Urban Building’, Jackson develops a hybrid typology that incorporates contemporary nightclub spaces into the fabric of a traditional Roman bath house. This project addresses issues relating to the LGBTQ+ community and offers spaces that intend to provide different, perhaps contrasting experiences catered to the desire of the user; a meditative spa, an intense techno nightclub, private darkrooms, and virtually any spacial and experiential variance in between.

During Kelli’s graduate studies of Fine Arts in Architecture at the UMA School of Architecture in Sweden, she attended the Bournemouth School of Arts architecture department, as an exchange student during one semester. After the exchange her interest in the challenge of building for urbanity became to be a driving force in order to understand architectural space as a result of historical intentions and contexts and the influences these had for in resulting in the urban room. A research method – by attempting to understand and appreciate the present and future possibilities for social sustainability – was during the time forming as an architectural vision.

A remarkable experience for her was a Collaborative Workshop in Palermo, Italy. The workshop was organized during the Architecture Biennale by Stalker and Falcota di Architettura di Palermo institute and was attended by both architects and artists. The task during the workshop was to explore a Manifesto which focused on urban realities, challenging one’s comprehension of crisis, hospitality, narratives and archives within the urban room and the role of art in urban transformation.

After Kelli’s graduation as a Bachelor of Architecture she worked for a year at the Swedish Museum of Photography, a social venue in Stockholm provided insights into how artwork is introduced and spread socially though event arrangements and public media. The experience gave roots to the idea of art seen as a tangible and connective tool to build for the future and how the architectural room adds value to the intention.

There is a focus on tangibility as in the connectivity between potential users and visitors. Attempting to connect by reached through – not only seeing a performer of a theatrical space, – but also to see the user as a conductor. Seeing space as a provision: what does the user need in terms of space to make art happen? Art as in challenging the notion of territory, as in unity, art as in the spirit of human meetings, meant to spark engagement and encourage social sustainability.

While architects are trying to address the socio-political issues, such as public inclusiveness whilst proposing a building to society in large, I believe there is more that can be done in terms of co-design for public stimulus. The focus is centered on finding out how the people find space within the urban room.

My design thesis explores condensing the experience of walking in the historical urban quarter into the scale of a building, which accommodates a literature museum in Antwerp.

i. architectural interest
The first part of the project focuses on abstracting and miniaturising some identical spatial configurations found in Antwerp into one building. Aiming to creates a sequential experience works as a leading thread through the entire building three-dimensionally.

ii. experience and literature
Combining the architectural idea with a literature museum program on a chosen site, the second part of the project leads to questioning the relationship between the spatial narrative and the literature exhibits.

About me

I am curious about transformation of underused spaces, co-creation, rootedness, connection with nature, finding creative ways of working with communities and facilitating balanced urban developments.

I worked as architectural assistant with O’DonnelBrown Architects in Glasgow, Konishi Gaffney Architects in Edinburgh and EFFEKT Architects in Copenhagen. Also, I am a co-founder of Un/Common Glasgow (Architecture Fringe 2019 programme participants).

I would be pleased to discuss my thesis work or a future collaboration. My contact details are below.

Estate of Change

The thesis seeks to bring the diversity of urban life to Antwerp’s peripheral modernist social housing estates by improving the quality and equality of everyday spaces. Normally demolished as part of comprehensive redevelopment plans the four slab blocks of this proposition will be retained thus respecting the unique character of the modernist housing and allowing the existing residents to continue to occupy their flats during construction.

This proposition to transform modernist blocks in Luchtbal neighbourhood will focus primarily on re-working the ground level, which is so typically underused in modernist urbanism. Between the blocks and their existing pilotis the principles of shared commons, mixed use, gradation of scales, distinct spatial identities and lasting quality of design are explored.

Identified needs of the ethnically diverse and economically deprived residents were used to inform a new masterplan and related architectural interventions at multiple scales. The existing situation of a private dwelling, a common stair and an overwhelming open space outside are mediated in this proposal by adding the ‘missing’ in-between spaces, thresholds encouraging stronger social relations and trust between the residents of the blocks and the wider neighbourhood.

The proposition includes:

1. Additional ground floor housing to redefine the public realm. Existing flats are provided with new sunrooms to increase desirability and common stair landings are made more generous to provide space for conversation between neighbours;
2. New pedestrian streets with active façades linking major attraction points in the neighbourhood (for example, train station and leisure destinations) to create spaces with distinct architectural identities and reduce car dependency;
3. Affordable work spaces, community education facilities and the associated civic spaces are proposed to address unemployment and bring more visitors to the area;
4. Clear distinction between public streets and semi-private courtyards shared by the residents of the blocks in order to encourage ‘ownership’ of the underused green spaces and create opportunities to strengthen trust between neighbours. This introduces ‘fronts and backs’ to the serially planned slabs;
5. Shared community facilities such as kitchens and laundrettes in the semi-private courtyards to allow the possibility of residents to re-think their daily lives on more communal terms;
6. Architectural language, design code and materials of the newly formed spaces are respectful of the existing buildings, ease navigation and give a sense of scale, ‘warmth’, comfort and lasting quality.

The aspiration of this thesis is to create a connection between Den Dam and the rest of Antwerp thus making this community feel included and not excluded. Not only creating a connection within the local area/district, will reduce the sense of isolation for the people.

The role of the architecture is to create a relationship with the land (market space) and the water (the dock) and examine whether if it is possible to utilise this resource to help generate the produce for this community led and ran market space, thus making it more sustainable for all the factors involved, whilst also reducing the reliance on the citiy’s mains water structure which can be utilised elsewhere within the system.

The scope of this design thesis will be able to benefit the community by connecting them with one another through the creation of this market and urban farm; therefore creating a desire for the public to visit therefore re-establishing a connection to this area and community with the city and re-purposing this once vibrant area, which bands together the community.

It is a place where cultures clash, which can be a valuable resource to act as a seed to foster a vibrant society. In conjunction with the artist could create a cultural hub and space for the north of Antwerp thus connecting to the rest of Antwerp and feel included and not excluded.

Through connecting the community together via a food market/hall which will be community lead and ran providing the people with jobs and therfore a source of income and the ability to share their culinary knowledge between themselves and the rest of Antwerp, thus benefiting all the people, the workers, the businesses and organisations within this community, hence connecting the people together and sharing this gift with Antwerp bring this community closer together with the city.

Ahyoung Lee is a Diploma student in Mackintosh School of Architecture from GSA. In another degree, she earned a Bachelor of Architecture from KonKuk University in South Korea, where she had an experience to produce articles as a reporter of the Architectural Institute of Korea.
As a future architect, she is interested in the responsibility of architecture in a broad sight, which can influence not only the everyday life of humans but also our society. In her thought, the responsibility can be thinking of how to make user’s architectural experience rich to enhance their quality of life, and how we can deal with existing context or regionality for the social community.

This year, her thesis explores ambivalent water’s roles in the city, such as being constructive and deconstructive, to understand the relationship between them, and also following architectural response. Considering sustainability as an aim, re-designed waterway, as an anchor of the sites, is to capture, store, purify and reuse rainwater. This is for flooding remediation as well as transforming water’s environmental issue and economic utility into pleasure and indulgence for the public. The architectural intention will be focused on the integration of water treatment processes and public activities, which help people to engage in, experience, and celebrate it.

Karina is a recent RIBA Part 2 Architecture graduate, also a holder of a degree in Architectural Technology.

Karina worked in Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Studied in Denmark, Scotland and Japan.

Her interest is in community architecture and art projects, build for and with local communities using recycled and eco-materials. She also is passionate about illustrations and graphic design, which helps her to present the ideas in a clear and attractive manner.

In 2020 Karina was nominated for RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship with the research topic in Craft Revival.

The final year thesis question stated: ‘How can the participatory architecture in underused sites of Kyoto, bring new notion to the oriental street and its’ communities in a contemporary context?’

It also sought to investigate the relationships between the professional and the user; unintentional and undefined design processes.

As an advocate for the natural environment and the conservation of wildlife, Gabrielle Buckley takes the premise that an empathy and understanding of nature should be at the root of good design.

At this moment in the shared global environmental crisis, she believes that every architect has a responsibility to do their utmost to change the current mindset from focusing solely the ‘built environment’ to the ‘environment’. This will enable the creation of places which harmonise both the urban and natural realms.

This years final design thesis titled “Act Natural: can mankind live harmoniously with nature for a healthy functioning ecosystem and planet through the medium of architecture?” explores ways to integrate urban development in nature sensitive and environmentally conscious manner.

With an awareness and interest for the endless possibilities and opportunities created by the cross collaboration of design disciplines and the allied arts, along with the belief that nature has the potential to be the greatest model that mankind can emulate to create a better world, initial research started with biomimicry which informed the building type and program.
This naturally led to further research into low key solutions and a design that retained and enhanced the integrity of the site through a ‘light touch’ approach to form and materials.

Former graduate of the University of Liverpool, I joined GSA and the Mackintosh School of Architecture in 2018. I have a strong interest in architectural conservation and my projects tend to focus on the preservation of buildings and materials.
I use AutoCAD software to create any technical drawings and SketchUp for 3D modelling and to generate visualisations. This year, I have experimented using concrete as a medium for model making and have enjoyed making terrazzo in my own time.

My work is centred around activating spaces that allow for existing cultural life to develop, and new culture to emerge and grow. It is concerned with the intersections between program, social and local architecture and architectural gestures. I’m particularly inspired by how spaces for music, performance, events and creativity bring people together within the city, and interested in the manifestation of community projects and DIY culture in design.

a (counter) cultural edge and island, Antwerp :

How can an architecture for informal performance activate parts of the city which are bypassed, and provide significant platforms for an existing grassroots scene within the city, which is currently physically dispersed and politically ignored? Through contributing to – whilst questioning- the use of public space, how is the ‘island’ and the ‘edge’’s potential realised, and the spaces activated ?

Antwerp Fashion Revival
How can the establishment of Antwerp Fashion District recreate the success story of ‘The Antwerp Six’ in the 1980s? By reclaiming underutilised public space, can the district reactivate the once prosperous industrial southern district?

Antwerp was one of the most influential fashion cities in the late 20th centuries following the uprising of ‘The Antwerp Six’. However, the decline in the Antwerp fashion industry has failed to compete with the traditional giants, including London, Paris, Milan, and New York. It has since been replaced by other promising cities such as Barcelona and Berlin. Although the Royal Academy of Fine Art Antwerp is one of the best fashion school in the world, it suffers from strict entrance requirement that repel international talents. the current institutions have strict language requirements for Dutch. For talented international individuals, going to an English-speaking prestigious institution, such as Central Saint Martins (London) and Parsons School of Design (New York), would be much more attractive. Also, a lack of spaces and opportunities has led to harsh environment for the new graduates and young designers to flourish. The Zuid (south) has a reputation of being trendy already serves as a location for independent designers, galleries and museum. The south dock currently serves as an elongated carpark that does is not suitable for public use. The former dock provides a missing opportunity for creating a social gathering platform.

Final Design Thesis presents the South Dock of Antwerp as the new fashion catwalk. The former industrial dock is split into three zone referencing the three former shipping bays. The first zone as a “Making” platform for emerging designers to work from. The second zone at the other end of the south dock is an Art School specialising in fashion design, serves as a platform to cultivate the young. Flanked by the school and workshops is an event space, working in adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art to celebrate the Antwerp talents.

Incorporation of the grid shell into building design as a lightweight structure. The structure provides opportunity to create dynamic canopy that references the fluidity of the Antwerp fashion industry. As the fashion design concentrates on hand crafted, custom made design. The grid shell structure of the fashion district uses natural material (mostly Glu-lam timber, that can cope with large spans). Although the grid shell structure flows according to the height required for each building program, as a nature of the dynamic roof, no two buildings are the same.

How can seized goods be reused in a way that fights illegal wildlife trade and it’s effects?

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My research started with a TRAFFIC and WWF report highlighting Belgium as a hub for both legal and illegal wildlife trade. This includes live animals and plants, animal products and also timber.

The Port of Antwerp is the 2nd busiest port in the EU and plays an important role in wildlife trade, importing 58% of the EU’s sawn timber. The port of Antwerp is much larger than the city itself, the scale incomprehendable from the city itself.

The environmental effects of illegal logging include deforestation, the loss of biodiversity and the uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gasses.

Antwerp as a city is particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change, with likely increases in flash flooding due to extreme rainfall.

It is highlighted in the TRAFFIC report, that the amount of seizures at the port is suspiciously low, suggesting greater security measures are required. Seizures of timber shipments have been made from companies that have been trading in the port for years without being noticed. It is for this reason that Antwerp’s role in illegal wildlife trade must be put into the spotlight.

When goods are seized, they are typically sold at auction, the profits of which go back to the state treasury and so some money from this can contribute towards actions against illegal trade. However, this does nothing to fight against the environmental effects of illegal wildlife trade, nor to raise awareness of the issue.

In a WWF survey, ~80% of Europeans were unaware that it was still possible to buy products containing illegally harvested timber. What if there was a way to use these seized goods that fought climate change, raised awareness of the issues, and simultaneously helped to build local community?
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The programme focuses on bringing together the various forms of seized goods in a way that draws attention to the issues surrounding them and also teaching how to fight its effects on the climate, using the materials to teach skills and sustainable practices which can be taken away and applied to people’s daily lives and therefore help local communities.

The programme further aims to provide for local communities by incorporating public green space into the proposal, something much needed for Antwerp.

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The volume of goods handled by the port each year overshadows the city. By using this volume, scaled down and using an equally scaled model of the iconic MAS building opposite, it provides a constant reminder of the scale and hidden nature of the port.

Shipments are delivered off the boat via crane into this mysterious box to be sorted. In the entrance, a model of the MAS, scaled down to the same scale as the box, it provides a visible reference point for people see and comprehend the size of industry at the port. By creating these shocking moments, it will have a lasting impact on people and raise awareness of the issues.

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The public programme on the ground floor includes a workshop, marketplace, gallery, café and permanent exhibition, as well as a botanical glasshouse where seized plants are cultivated and displayed. The main entrance is here, between the delivery dock and the box. From the foyer space is the reception and gallery, the entrance to the exhibition, and the café, which has views across Willemdok as well as being able to sit and watch deliveries being made overhead. This then comes round to the market hall, which is adjacent to the workshop so that work made there can be easily taken out and visitors can also see where the crafts and such have been made. The workshop also connects through to the gallery for invited artists to display their work made in the workshop. It has views into the botanical gardens, grounding what is quite an industrial space with a connection back to nature and the source of the materials.

The permanent exhibition winds around the box, with displays that highlights statistics about international wildlife trade, the box constantly bringing Antwerp’s role into question. It culminates in an anechoic chamber, a completely sound-absorbent silent room, which represents the effects of wildlife trade. It then continues up a ramp which snakes around the box, emphasising the scale of it and allowing a closer inspection of the cladding of it, which is made up of various seized hardwoods, and then this leads to a rooftop walkway which allows visitors to peek down into the otherwise private first floor programme. The narrative of this is an understanding of the issue, its ultimate effects, and then getting to look at what goes on within this building to combat it and encourage visitors to get involved.

On the upper floor is the delivery and sorting area within the box, from where goods are moved to a processing plant where large timbers are cut down, reptile leathers are shredded and reconstituted into larger sheets which are no longer recognisable as reptile leathers, ivory is crushed and burnt to be reused as pigments and fertilisers. There is also research office for charitable organisations, and an animal rehabilitation centre for caring for seized live animals before they are reintroduced into the wild in their country of origin.

After processing, the output of this is brought down into the workshop, used there and then goes out to the market or gallery. The public interact with this process at several intervals, with views from the café, in the exhibition, and up at roof level.

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The site of the proposal is on Entrepotkaai, by Willemdok. The location bridges between the historic city centre and the docklands, with good connections to the north by both land and water.

As a key aim of the project is to raise awareness, the building should sit in a prominent location. At the end of Italiëlei, the wide boulevard circumnavigating the city centre, and opposite the MAS at the head of Willem dock, it is certainly a prominent site.

It was formerly the site of 2 customs houses, the first of which was built in 1830 and the second of which was demolished in 1990. As the proposal is related to customs and seized goods, it comes at a third iteration of customs buildings on the site.

The key feature of the previous customs house was its solid boundary wall, making the series of warehouses within private and inaccessible.

This typology doesn’t fit with a programme of accessibility, transparency and awareness. By flipping this typology on its head, it creates an open public ground floor level with a permeable boundary, with private elements of the programme on the upper levels.

The customs house would have been a point of delivery into the city. By reactivating Willemdok to bring deliveries to the site via ship into newly dug out inlets, it reconnects the city with the industry of the port and makes the delivery of these seized goods a public and visible spectacle.

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The wider site strategy examines Willemdok as a ‘room’, the surrounding buildings forming a clear boundary. The office blocks which replaced the old customs house breaks this morphology. I have used nearby blocks as rough guidelines to complete the room, in which the building sits. The new dock is at the north side of the site, the building mostly centred so that the green space and the botanical glasshouse can be on the south side of the site, as this part of the site is the natural end point of the walkway past the MAS. By providing green space at this point in the city, it helps to bridge the gap between the old city centre and the new developments to the north.

I’m an illustrator from West Yorkshire. I work both digitally and traditionally in gouache and coloured pencils. My primary focus at the moment is children’s illustrations and picture books although I also enjoy editorial work. I enjoy observing and drawing from life, particularly whilst out walking my dog, Mya, in the Yorkshire Moors.

I enjoy creating narratives visually, as well as creating work that people can interact with. I like my work to be accessible and enjoyable for everyone. My work focuses on issues that important to me, particularly focused on dogs. My current book focuses on highlighting the options available when considering getting a pet dog. In particular focusing on adoption in order to bring awareness to shelters, making it a viable option alongside buying. It tells the story of a dog looking for a home, using simple language and playful images to engage with children of all ages. Alongside this, I also created daily quick illustrations capturing moments with my dog Mya.

In my final year at Glasgow School of Art studying Communication Design specialising in Graphics where I have immersed myself in a wide range of subjects, undertaking independent research projects, answering design briefs and finding creative solutions to problems within tight deadlines.

For most of this year I have been working on a short film on the improvement on mental health and well-being through football — with the focus on physical and emotional well-being and how they are interconnected.

Through mental well-being, I have tackled underlying topics such as anxiety, depression, addictions and how football (particularly the football community) can play a vital role of support for coping with such problems for some individuals. Emphasising that team spirit, and being part of something bigger than yourself, can help people gain confidence and self-worth through community support and the camaraderie of the game itself.

Commissioned by the SFA I have been working with Stenhousemuir Warriors which is part of Stenhousemuir Football Club one of the most community-active professional football clubs in the UK.  Warriors in the Community is the community arm of the football club which aims to have a positive impact on every household in Stenhousemuir and the surrounding areas; either directly through club activity or through the Tryst Community Sports Club partnership. They strive to encourage more boys, girls, men and women to participate in regular physical activity and to be an active part of their local football club and community; regardless of their level of ability.

Due to the current situation I have been unable to finish this project. I plan to upload the finished film in due course.

If you would like to reach out please feel free to get in contact.

Thanks

Mark

Ollie Scott is an illustrator whose practice explores the topic of silence and noise in public spaces through a medium of writing, drawing, drypoint etching and book making.

In her most recent project titled ‘Observations of Strangers’, she delves into the interactions with strangers that often seem insignificant, exploring feelings of awkwardness and shared discomfort within the infra-ordinary.

Danielle Macleod is a photographer from the Outer Hebrides. Her work depicts the oral traditions of the Gaidhealteachd where stories are passed down generationally, growing a new magical detail every time they change hands. She gathers these stories through interviews and records them as collections of poetic photographs, re-telling the stories once more and leaving space for their regenesis.

Having been based in Glasgow for a number of years, Danielle’s photographs reconnect her with her island home in a new dimension, where landscapes become mystical and people become the keepers of mythology. She seeks to deepen our spiritual connections to the places we call home by reimagining her own through the lens of living legends.

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“One day whilst droving cattle by the shore at Bayble, my great-great-great grandfather was approached by a small rowing boat. He was kidnapped by the men aboard and put to work in a far away place. Six years later he reappeared, walking down the garden path to his widow.” —Scott Macleod

‘Nuair a Leig i Tharais Thu’ tells the story of a kidnapped crofter and his return home, portrayed in these photographs by his direct descendant Scott Macleod. Whilst tending to daily tasks, he was snatched away by a strange ship from his pregnant wife and island community, making his quiet escape and eventual return 6 years later. In those days, men from the west coast were sometimes kidnapped in this manner for forced labour, because of their hardiness and familiarity with seafaring life.

Initially, I had intended to salt print these images using seawater from the locations in the story, but due to COVID-19 that has been put on hold. This project is on-going; I plan to collect more stories and turn it into a series.

Originally from Spain. My background in advertising influences my illustration work. Solving the problem while telling a story is my aim.

For this showcase I selected a movie poster project that I will be updating.

I’m a photographer and multidisciplinary artist born in Brighton (1996) and based in Glasgow.

My current projects focus on human intervention, exploring globalisation, public space, British culture, urban environments and social behaviour.

Through contemporary photography I attempt to extract new meanings from within the landscape and materialise ideas, tensions or emotions that are otherwise unseen. Interested in the reciprocal relationship between human and environment; I often manifest my ideas through reoccurring motifs and patterns found in people and objects. My work has become more socially and politically motivated in recent years, a natural response to our current climate. Conveying the human condition through a sense of unfamiliarity, I attempt to reveal new interpretations of ‘truth’.

My current project ‘In Moleca’ documents the events and effects of the ‘Acqua Alta’ (high-water) which transpires annually in the city of Venice, Italy. This tidal activity is a natural occurrence, however in recent decades it has been aggravated by the effects of human activity. Mass-tourism, global warming, urban expansion and industrialisation are damaging factors which have influenced the deterioration of the Venetian lagoon, this has led to the increasing tide and subsidence of the ‘floating city’. Exploring issues caused by human intervention; this series highlights the tender balance between urban inhabitants and the environment. ‘In Moleca’ questions how cities like Venice can harmonise this interdependent relationship and adapt to the age of the Anthropocene in an increasingly globalised world.

This year I worked on a short film commissioned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA). This documents United Glasgow FC, a club who campaign for refugees rights and champion the ideals of inclusivity and accessibility in Scottish football.

In recent years my work has been published by Intern-mag, CNN, Public-Source XYZ and Issues-mag. Please contact me via email for any enquiries, commissions or collaborations!

I’m a multidisciplinary graphic designer, splitting my time between Glasgow and the south coast of England. Integral to my practice is a love of craft, which translates into the work I do – spanning editorial, typography, branding and digital design. I seek to challenge convention by adopting a playful and inquisitive approach to solving design problems, to create work that brings joy to the way we see and interact with the world.

Marrying tradition with tale, ‘Cleansing Rituals’ explores customs with fable aspects.
The work investigates premarital ceremonial ‘cleansing’ with natural elements; soot, salt and feathers, all thought to possess holistic virtue with purifying properties carrying protective and fertilising powers.

Scottish writer Margaret Bennett’s Customs: From the Cradle to the Grave yielded the body of work with biographical narrative. Bennett’s interview material and manuscripts notes describes archival recounts involving soot being rubbed onto the skin prior to ‘feet washing’ in order to cleanse and bring luck. Other occurrences describe finding the ring of a woman who has been in an enduring marriage in a chamber pot filled with salt. The events have been adapted with a lyrical approach, telling an unknown past by using natural elements.

The body of work began with large format nude self-portraits, exhibited in ‘Pt.2 – Com Des WIP Show’. The images were created through photo etching, which is a highly precise corrosion process used by chemical etching. The intaglio printmaking method was originated as Photogravure. The pairing images were printed with handmade ink from soot and linseed oil.
Following this was an exploration of Salt Printing, a photographic process involving wetting paper with a solution of table salt then brushing it with light-sensitive chemical, silver nitrate.
The reoccurring trope of the soot, salt and feathers throughout ‘Cleansing Rituals’ is integral to both the subject matter and the making of the images.

Abby Bayani is graphic designer working and living in Glasgow. With an interest in underlying structures, she utilises graphic design as a way to explore and visualise them in new ways.

Working across disciplines, her practice is process-led, experimenting with various methods and materials to develop ideas. She makes use of printmaking, bookbinding, and animation to aid her creative process; and is inherently driven by the possibilities of playful exploration and meticulous making.

I am an illustration student graduating from the Glasgow School of Art. Primarily my practice
involves the creation and relaying of narratives through multidisciplinary techniques, focused particularly on social issues surrounding class and hierarchies within society.

In my final year studying at the Glasgow School of Art, I aimed to explore the topic of social hierarchies within society, particularly the experiences of those from different backgrounds within educational environments. I explored these topics within two ongoing projects. My first project is a children’s book project, inspired by previous research, exploring poverty proofing within primary schools. The purpose of this is to educate children on different experiences, and represent social classes within schools, therefore providing a voice.

I also explored this idea within ‘The Pecking Order.’ The aim was to investigate my own experiences and the experiences of others, focusing in particular on students from working class backgrounds entering higher education. Through this, I wanted to create 3 animations or ‘episodes,’ that portray relatable narratives whilst also informing the audience.

Exploring the role of place as the cause and outcome of social action, Gibb’s work examines how the multiple and dynamic identities which emerge from and within place impact the past, present and future. Her work primarily comments on the influence of Christianity in the shaping of social relationships, attitudes and outcomes within the context of her native Northern Ireland.

The graduate collection featured, Where There Is No Vision the People Perish, explores the influence of strict Christian morality in our affinities to each other, ourselves, our bodies and our space. Gibb scrutinises the manifestation of creed in the sculpting of societal ideals of sexual virtue in contemporary Northern Ireland and respectfully commemorates the subsequent detriment with the objective of equality. Through the study of changing bodies, posture and psychology, healing and mending Gibb presents this relationship to materiality through the creation of genderless, slow fashion.

As a graduating student of the Glasgow School of Art, I won’t be using this platform to present and promote my practice as an act of solidarity with the Pause or Pay Campaign. If you would like to see my full works please follow this link to my website: gibb.cargo.site

Melody Uyanga Ramsay is a Scottish-Mongolian fashion designer whose work focuses on heritage, ethics, sustainability and its intersections using fashion.

After gaining invaluable experience in the Concept Design Department at Ralph Lauren, she has honed her own creative vision working between fashion, installation, performance and video.

As you start to figure out her visual language; the process of theoretical and historical research becomes evident as a form of figurative expression, transporting you with tailored British narratives and a homage to Mongolian horse-riding culture. This melting-pot of culture and art forces to overwhelm and define you.

Through her research, she has developed a design process that involves a rich cross-pollination of sources, bringing together literary, material and visual references.

Her 2020 graduate collection is presented as a meditation on cultural narratives, presented within a carefully considered scenography and casting.

Drawing upon the images and textiles of authoritarian dress in a transnational dialogue, she moves across time and space by bringing these references under the lens of a new era in postcolonial critique.

As a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, I would like to state my support for the Pause or Pay Campaign.

I am a visual communicator from Latvia with an innate socio-anthropological interest. My work strives to explore relationships between and to others within an integrated design practice.

Through a trans-disciplinary format I like to provide visibility to people, objects, settings and narratives which would otherwise not be told.

Currently I am working on a collaborative project with Latvian weavers, jewellery makers and craftswomen to understand the relationship between historical trauma, craft and design now. It is a research of human displacement in the history of Latvia, the formation of memory and possible ways of preserving the ancient craft skills.

Born in Germany, Isabell is a Glasgow based designer and seamstress. After successfully finishing an apprenticeship as a seamstress she moved to Glasgow in 2014 and will graduate with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design summer 2020. Isabell gained a wide range of knowledge for manufacturing and garment construction, throughout her studies and work in the bridal, costume and performance sector.
Especially through her work for bespoke bridal gowns and creating her own collections at the art school, she developed creative problem solving and pattern cutting skills.
Isabell herself is outside the studio passionate about a wide variety of outdoor activities. Her connection to nature and her creative way of thinking is her drive to push sustainability in the sports industry forward.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, would like to state my support for the Pause or Pay Campaign.

With an enthusiasm for story telling and cultures of the past, Caitlin Fraser is a unisex designer from Glasgow. Whilst studying her BA in Fashion Design, Caitlin has had a keen interest in garments of the past and how they could convey so much information about the person wearing them. This interest has spanned from the tudors of the 1500s to the punks and skinheads of the 1980s.

Caitlin’s current project is about exploring her own heritage and identity by focusing on the city where not only she grew up but also her family generations before her. The main inspiration behind this project comes from old family photographs, poems and film as each garment aims to tell a different story through the cut, silhouette and fabric choice.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, would like to state my support for the Pause Or Pay campaign. To read the full manifesto click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwdvZfLTp1udaASJ1EAmRT9XR-OPQIyU/view

Zoë Ward is a womenswear designer from Brighton, currently based in Glasgow, Scotland.

She appoaches design and making with a visceral exploration of craft and craft history resulting in textiles and garments rich in detail.

Zoë prioritise’s a slower approach to making – isolating techniques, such as hand smocking and appliqué that would enforce a more mindful and meditative approach. By applying honest, traditional craftsmanship, the garment can be seen as a narrative object; it tells a story of time and care before its even worn. Zoë believe’s considering clothing in this way we come to respect and value our belongings in a deeper sense. Applying this philosophy she hopes to re-address the relationship we have with what we use and what we wear.

Sustainable practice is at the core of what Zoë does. Utilising second hand, up-cycled, found, or in some way repurposed cloths and materials. The resulting textiles and garments reflect this history, the provenance; the landscape they come from and the people who created them.

Zoë hopes her collection honours the communities that have inspired her, that it recognises the traditions and processes of generations of craftsmen, and that it celebrates narrative in the objects we own and treasure.

Sophie Marshall is a Womenswear Designer and Pattern Cutter based in Glasgow. Throughout her studies, Sophie has developed a keen interest in tailoring which has become a fundamental component of her graduate collection. Sophie is passionate about the physical aspects of the design process, particularly creative pattern cutting.

Her graduate collection, ‘These Will Be Our Pink Days’ is a womenswear tailoring collection which aims to challenge society’s construction of femininity. By deconstructing sexualised representations of women in the media, it is possible to instead create a flattened sense of sexuality- leaning towards androgyny- which will allow women to exist outside of the confines of their gender. Sophies research consists heavily of female artists whos practices are fuelled by a desire to emancipate women from the patriarchal gaze of our heteronormative society.

Sophie’s practice involves using traditional tailoring found in menswear, alongside silhouettes and fabrication techniques from women’s lingerie. Her design process involves analysing the cultural significance and sartorial power associated with certain items of clothing- namely, traditional tailored pieces-and using these symbolic references to distort and subsequently rewrite society’s idea of how a woman should dress, look and behave.

The aesthetic drive for this collection lies within the highly sexualised and auto-erotic representation of women in 1990’s/early 2000’s advertising and the media in general. Sophie is interested in the individualist portrayal of women in postfeminist imagery, which suggests that women are empowered and in control through consciously conforming to a heteronormative, patriarchal construction of sexiness. This collection has been influenced by feminist theory and an in depth understanding of the need to disturb and breakdown stereotypical representations of women in the media.

Even when worn by a woman, it is difficult to see a suit and not also have an attached idea of that suit belonging to menswear. For this collection, Sophie takes specific elements found in tailoring and uses these in nontraditional ways to grant women the power which belongs to men’s tailoring, without there actually being any notion of gender.

I, as a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, would like to state my support for the
Pause or Pay Campaign. To read the full manifesto click here

Light is the primary creative medium of Sean Mallon’s practice and he has been increasingly inspired by the technological use of light in invisible wavelengths for networking and data distribution. He is concerned with using visible light to express the effects of connectivity on the psyche. Seminal texts have been drawn from, such as those by Marshal McLuhan, who famously wrote of the interplay between the development of our brains and the media processed by them or as his contemporary John Culkin said; ‘we make the tools and then in turn the tools help to shape us’ (Culkin 1967). His work aims to express this interplay between technology and human experience and to show that we are at a new intersection of adaptation as we are exposed to networked media.
These ideas are expressed with interactive installation work which aims to draw attention to the body / self. An awareness of oneself is created by mirror images of pixel-like white light, transplanting the body with a digital representation of such. Light follows the movement of the viewer, reaffirming the interplay and our close ties with technology; symbolising the technological human condition we now inhabit.

Sally’s practice primarily focuses on ideas and issues related to mental health. From experiencing mental health problems herself, Sally has become passionate about using her personal lived experience and creative practice to open up much needed conversation and challenge existing stigma and ill-informed perceptions of mental health problems. She uses technology to develop interactive and immersive audio and visual experiences that communicate the often hard to explain realities of living with a mental health problem.

Sally often combines her creative practice with her voluntary youth work role at See Me Scotland. In her most recent work Sally has been working closely with other young people from See Me to develop a series of engaging and interactive works that communicate voices, lived experiences, challenges and stigma that young people face in relation to mental health. This work focuses on three key themes; stigma, medication and barriers to accessing support.

Zach Mason’s work investigates the relationship between digital and physical spaces through design research across both spaces. The liminal space created between these environments is experimented with in order to reproduce objects in alternative forms. This subverts their purpose, and reduces their forms to better understand them, and the process of object reproduction.

Hoping to break down the stigmas associated with digital space, he uses 3D modelling and machine learning along with 3D printing to move objects and ideas from one facet of space to another. Using surreal and intangible notions, he aims to break down engrained barriers within the spaces we inhabit, in order to invite users to approach them in a less fragmented manner. He sees mental, physical and digital space as a continuous realm to be explored, made tangible through a symbiotic trifecta which allows for the creation of objects in liminal space.

Rebecca Lindsay is a digital artist and designer who in her recent work explores the act of cognitive offloading and the trust we place in technology storing information without error. We often misremember things as our memories change over time and can be altered due to outside influences. As our minds are fallible we take pictures to remember events which we backup to computers and phones under the assumption that this information will remain unaltered. Many of us use memory apps through social media to remind us of events. However, as our devices and apps can be hacked our information can be compromised – could we remember clearly enough to dispute that our information and consequently our memories had been altered?

Inspired by artists such as Zbigniew Rybczyński and Sophie Calle, her recent work uses machine learning and coding as a method of generating imagery. Using personal information uploaded by others and herself ranging from text to images Rebecca’s work explores our relationship and reliance on technology to both save and express aspects of our lives and identities within a non secure digital landscape.

Charlotte Holland is a creative technologist exploring the intersection of art and technology. Her latest body of work explores our relationship between the real world and the virtual, through the lens of online gaming.

Her work incorporates the “W”, “A”, “S” and “D” keys, which are a common input when playing computer games. Each letter acts like an arrow key, moving the player up, down, left, or right in relation to its position on the keyboard.

Mirroring these controls, she has used each letter to signify a direction. Generative line drawings are created by analysing a text and then plotting each instance of “W”, “A”, “S” and “D”, moving the line in the corresponding direction.

She developed a particular interest in the unique language patterns used in gaming chat logs. Taking gaming conversations out of their original context, she uses chat-log messages as input data to create these generative artworks.

Chat-log language is typically informal, rude, misspelt, and laced with gaming jargon. She found it humorous to create works of art inspired by this which from the outside seem sophisticated and mature. Her work plays with perceptions of what is worthwhile or important in this new digital age, finding beauty in unexpected places.

Inspired by the blurring line between reality and the imagination, Ankita Nagaraj’s work is an experimental exploration into our relationship with the technology we have created. Finding the most interest in the journey of research and development, her work branched from the imagery of machines gaining consciousness, free thought and emotions, shown in the music video ‘The Music Scene’ by Blockhead. Basing her work on this science fiction idea, while pulling reference from the concept of singularity in Eastern culture as discussed by Alan Watts, she uses browser extensions, popups and physical pieces of technology to personify and humanise these machines.

Callum Blair is a Scottish born creative technologist who is interested in discovering how design and technology can be used to convey movement in sports, particularly in tennis which he has a passion for. By comparing the elegance and beauty of the movement in tennis to an improvised dance he can see the relation to art. The skills required to perform at highest levels allows players to develop shapes and styles while they move on court which Callum transfers into his design practise.

Callum’s work looks at how he can turn this motion into data visualisation, by listening to radio broadcast of past tennis matches he turned the language used in the broadcast and turned it into data. With inspiration from Brian Eno rule based thinking, Callum explores how rule-based patterns could influence his work using them to direct his design choices when using data to create his visuals.

Along with the data visualisations of past matches, Callum experiments with machine learning, feeding a computer algorithm text from radio broadcasts. He taught the machine how to reproduce its own tennis points. By interpreting the points made he would draw the interpretations and create prints and calling it a collaboration between human and machine, drawing the interpretations and creating prints.

Valentine Scherer is a French/Australian interaction designer who is interested in finding and making connections between generative and organic processes, analogue and digital, material and non-material, to discover new lenses on sense-making in a world of chaos & disinformation. Her most recent research and work were initially inspired by some of Richard Sennet’s writings on craft and how we live in the built environment.

Her work interrogates processes in making, production and consumption in the networked digital society. Allusions to the circularity of the economy are made throughout her work as an attempt to make a playful commentary, drawing from a broad range of inspirations such as Dadaism, George Brecht’s instruction art or more contemporary artists and designers like new media artist Philipp Schmitt. Much of her research and work on the ecology of modularity stems from a fascination with the role of craft as a means of sense-making in society.

Much of this work is based on a set of images of hybridised furniture pieces which were produced using Machine Learning algorithms via Runway ML software. This process enabled the generation and computational ‘imagination’ of a new set of furniture designs based on standardised IKEA graphic instruction covers.

Seeking to critique flat pack and modular furniture and the IKEA model which is hyper-dominant for all students and young people worldwide, she uses machine learning, 3D modelling and printing methods to uncover the flawed value system underlying the culture and production ethos. Using a playful and absurdist spirit of inquiry, she developed a way to auto-generate semi-functional modularity which shows just how ridiculous it is, and how it is just creating toxic landfill at an exponential rate, how this culture in itself is a huge driver of economic externalities that can only be eliminated by thorough system change.