The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
About
Location Dundee | ARB/RIBA courses BA (Hons) Architectural Studies (with Wuhan University), BA/MArch (Hons) Architecture, MArch (Hons) Architecture with Urban Planning | Head of school Kirsty Macari | Full-time tutors 14 | Part-time tutors 13 | Students 380 | Staff to student ratio 1:14 | Bursaries available Yes
Undergraduate
Natasha Bell
Course BA/MArch (Hons) Architecture
Studio/unit brief Kreuzberg Theatre
Project title Verzerren: Distortion A German Expressionist Theatre
Project description This is a proposal for a theatre in Kreuzberg, Berlin, designed to serve as a centre for German Expressionist film, small-scale productions and community activity. The foyer is a key part of the design and is envisaged as an urban corridor integrated with surrounding streets through its amenities including café, restaurant, bar, lounge and art gallery. It was inspired by the 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari by Robert Wiene and has been explored through lino and wood-cut art. The design process involved techniques from chalk art to set design to create a space that resonates with German Expressionism in both programme and form.
Tutor citation Natasha not only adapted the outline brief but lived it. Through engaging visuals – some purposely muted and, at times, abstract – Natasha has created a celebration of one of the 20th century’s most recognisable artforms. Richard Dundas
Postgraduate
Jia Hui Lin
Course MArch (Hons) Architecture
Studio/unit brief Displacement
Project title Palimpsestic Faith: The Secular Symbol of Space
Project description This project is set in a historic neighbourhood of the Kahramanmaraş Province, an area badly affected by Turkey’s 2023 earthquake. It investigates the concept of ‘architectural acupuncture’ to regenerate lost cultural identity, history and memory. An extensive analysis was conducted to explore behaviour through routines relating to religious activities in order to introduce a new ‘Secular Symbol of Space’. This is manifested in the concept of ‘thirdspace’, where workshops, markets and other social spaces are contained, to facilitate activities from individual making to communal workshops – all in the aim of reforming a collective memory as well as commemorating the devastating event overhanging the site.
Tutor citation This thesis explores placemaking, social sustainability and capacity building following the loss of seminal religious buildings in Turkey’s 2023 earthquake to communicate the spirit of place. Laurence Wood
