Inspiring the next generation of designers, architects and engineers!
What
- Architecture and engineering workshop (2 days)
- Pavilion construction (2 days)
The Next Generation Design project began with 2-days of workshops mixing short talks about architecture and engineering from young professionals with site visits, design and sketching workshops that allow the students to put what they learn into action. In small teams the students were challenged to design an innovative pavilion responding to the St James’ churchyard site in Clerkenwell, to feature as part of Clerkenwell Design Week in Central London. Starting with a given set of materials, the teams created concept sketches, models, and drawings both setting out their design and explaining how they would would build it! At the end of the workshop the teams presented their designs to a panel of friendly architects and engineers from academia and industry.
The panel of judges were impressed by the depth and ingenuity of the designs, but were particularly impressed by the strong concept underlying the winning pavilion: a deconstructed dome pulled apart by the symbolic hands of humanity illustrating the impact of human creation and destruction on the planet.
In normal years this design would have been finalized by the Scale Rule team running the workshops, and constructed and installed as part of Clerkenwell Design Week in May 2020 with the help of the workshop participants.
However, clearly 2020 has not been a normal year, and instead of the design being realized physically it has been rendered digitally. While the team continued to develop the design ready for construction, the global pandemic and subsequent lockdown saw Clerkenwell Design Week postponed, and the pavilion was reimagined as a digital release.
Early in the summer, the students behind the winning concept took part in a digital design workshop where the pavilion was collectively reviewed, tested and developed to allow the team to give feedback and push the design forward. In collaboration with XR developers at Grimshaw, the pavilion was created as both a virtual and augmented reality composition which can be explored online. The pavilion can be experienced anywhere using the instagram filter to drop it into your surroundings and move around.
This was the sixth (6!) year of Scale Rule design-and-build pavilion projects, and 5th anniversary of happy involvement with Clerkenwell Design Week. It follows from five previous completed projects in London (2019; 2018; 2017; 2016; 2015) and Birmingham (2017) and Nottingham (2018).
Who
The workshops were open to any student in years 9 to 11, with around 25 students attending.
Why
The Next Generation Design workshop and construction is a fantastic opportunity:
- to develop an understanding of what architects and engineers do
- to consider new careers and choose A-levels to match
- to gain experiences for your personal statement
- to have a fun and creative weekend!
… as well as providing an opportunity for design professionals to…
- teach the fundamentals of their careers
- develop hands-on teaching, designing and construction skills
- meet other like-minded designers
- ensure our industries become more diverse and representative
When
15th and 16th February 2020 – Workshops and panel session
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15th and 16th May 2020 – Preparation, Construction & Assembly (unfortunate pandemic)
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16th October 2020 – Digital launch!
Team
Organisers: Catherine + Martina + Edel + Will + Clare + Tyron + Jamie + Joe + Sasha
Student winners: Jathursan + William + Muhammad + Devin + Miqdaam
Digital Wizardry: Jamie Vickery + Joseph Alison + Sasha Belitskaja
Support
Resources
All the slides from the workshops can be downloaded from the Resources page. If you’d like to run a similar workshop feel free to use them, but please let us know about it!
