Above: The Mall

The War Rooms, St. James's Park imagines a future in which the UK's energy supply has been cut following a war over energy resources in 2050.

Above: The Mall - detail

Scott presents a closed-loop agricultural system where London provides energy and food for itself without relying on imports.

Above: Smart Grid

An anaerobic digester would stand on the outskirts of St. James's Park, filled with vertiginous crops.

Above: MP's House

A sky-scraping 'energy tower' nearby would have plants growing on every floor, and a smart grid would be installed for efficient energy use.

Above: MP's House - detail

Scott was inspired by Ebenezer Howard, the late 20th century thinker whose utopian writings led to the creation of several 'garden cities' in Britain.

Above: New St. James's Park

See more work by Bartlett graduates »

Above: Energy Tower

See all our stories about conceptual architecture »

Above: Energy Tower - detail

See all our stories about graduate shows in 2012 »

Above: The Instrument

Here's some more information from Ned Scott:

The War Rooms, St. James's Park

The War Rooms takes a science-fictional premise in which the UK’s energy supply networks are terminated following an Energy War in 2050.

Above: Aerial Perspective

The project explores the implications of the decentralisation of the UK’s energy networks and the implementation of a closed-loop agrarian economy.

Above: Aerial Perspective - detail

The science-fictional scenario presented and the subsequent urban strategies proposed address the challenges the UK faces regarding energy security and fuel poverty, and speculates on the hypothetical consequences of a future where the many risks associated with the UK’s long-term energy strategy come to bear

Above: Anaerobic Disaster

The War Rooms, St. James’s Park introduces an institutional framework for agrarian reform, inspired by Ebenezer Howard, which operates on three simultaneous scales representative of the three protagonists of Clifford D. Simak’s 'City': Man, Dog and Ant.

Above: Anaerobic Disaster - detail

Above: Energy Warehouse

Above: Energy Warehouse - detail

Above: Howard Boulevard

Above: Howard Boulevard - detail

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by Ned Scott appeared first on Dezeen.

Black imagines the workplaces as a series of indoor gardens, where flowers sprout up between desks and pollen floats into the atmosphere through new openings in the existing glazed facades.

The project has been nominated for the silver RIBA President’s Medal, which last year was awarded to Kibwe Tavares for his movie about robots rioting on the streets of south London.

If you're interested in animations, see our series by Tavares and his colleagues at architectural image studio Factory Fifteen.

Here's some more explanation from Black:

The project stems from research into London's office culture, in particular that of Canary Wharf. In the vastness of these office spaces the needs of the individual are largely overlooked and the repetitive, generic offices with their catalogue furniture offer little more than a place to work. The proposal is an attempt to open up these closed office cultures in which the basic needs of the individual have been forgotten. Floors are opened up and internal orchid gardens created.

The Symbiotic Office changes the way in which people use office spaces, creating internal relaxation zones where individuals can pause for thought, host meetings, eat their lunch or drink a cup of tea. In the digital age where the traditional place of work is a fluid concept, the project strives to highlight the importance of face-to-face interactions and to create an office space which not only boosts productivity, but one which the workers can enjoy.

The film itself is a representation of this proposal. Created in 3DS Max, rendered in Vray and composited in Adobe After Effects; it envisages an office in which these generic spaces open up to internal gardens and relaxation zones.

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by Richard Black appeared first on Dezeen.

Gales formed Factory Fifteen with fellow Bartlett School of Architecture classmates Paul Nicholls and Kibwe Tavares when they graduated last year.

You can see more of their movies here, including Tavares' film about robots rioting on the streets of south London that won last year's RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards.

Here’s some information from Factory Fifteen:

Megalomania

The city is a centre of population and culture. It is also a concentration of built infrastructure, capital and architecture. The project focuses on the perception of the city in total construction; inspired by the incomplete states of world icons such as The Shard and Burj Khalifa. Megalomania is a short animation that explores the aesthetic of change as an ambiguous language that can be read as both growth and decay. The built environment of the city is explored as a labyrinth of architecture that is either unfinished, incomplete or broken. Megalomania is a response to the state of many developing cities, exaggerating the appearance of progress into the sublime.

The project took inspiration from Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Carceri plates, which show a fictional architecture of prison environments. The geometry that make up the spaces within the Carceri series is ambiguous of its scale and enclosure and could be argued as impossible to be built. These themes were applied to envision an exaggerated contemporary urban construction site on the scale of a city. The project began by making a series of graphics that propose new architectures in, around and stacked on top of others. These graphics were then treated as scenes of the animation as well as becoming drawings that would stand alone.

The film is made up of a number of point of view and virtual camera movements, mixing between the experiential perspective of an individual alongside impossible camera positions elevated above the city. Megalomania was created predominantly using 3D CGI with some 2.5D animated sequences.

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by Jonathan Gales appeared first on Dezeen.

A sci-fi animation in which a downtrodden robot workforce battles with police against a backdrop of dystopian architecture is one of the winners of the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards, announced this evening.

Top and above: Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares

Bartlett School of Architecture graduate Kibwe Tavares receives the Silver Medal for his project, Robots of Brixton, which we featured in the summer - watch the movie here.

Above: Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares

Basmah Kaki, a student at the Architectural Association, wins the Bronze medal for a conceptual building that manipulates wind and acoustics to protect workers at a granite quarry from noise pollution.

Above: acoustic lyrical mechanism by Basmah Kaki

The dissertation medal is awarded to University of Melbourne student Hannah Robertson, who presented a study of homes for an indigenous community in northeast Australia.

Above: acoustic lyrical mechanism by Basmah Kaki

All shortlisted projects will be on display at the RIBA in London until the end of January 2012 and will then travel to other venues.

Above: Bush Owner Builder by Hannah Robertson

See some of the winners from previous years here.

Above: Bush Owner Builder by Hannah Robertson

Here’s a press release from the RIBA:

A brave new world - RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2011

From a dystopian vision of Brixton, to a sanctuary for quarry workers in Bangalore, to new homes for a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, this year’s RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards, in association with Atkins, show how today’s architecture students around the world are grappling with pressing social issues and, through architecture, coming up with original solutions.

The winners of the President’s Medals will be announced this evening (Wednesday 7 December 2011) at the RIBA in London.

Kibwe Tavares, a student of The Bartlett, University College London, has won the Silver Medal – awarded to a Part 2 project (second degree) – for Robots of Brixton. Taking the existing buildings of Brixton as a starting point, and eerily prescient of this summer’s riots in English cities, this startling short film combines architectural drawings and futuristic animation to comment on the social tensions of inner city life. The judges said: “We were stunned by the research work that went into making this film: not only had an urban environment been designed but the film itself was a complex design project. An amazing piece of work that is truly exciting and inspirational.”

The Bronze Medal – for a Part 1 project (first degree) – has been awarded to Basmah Kaki, a student at the Architectural Association. An acoustic lyrical mechanism is an ingenious design which exploits the natural environment to create a sanctuary for workers, protecting them from damage caused by noise pollution in an Indian granite quarry. The judges said: “This is beautifully presented, but equally impressive is the journey of architectural exploration. Prototypes have been made, and topographical models used to help analyse the impact of wind and the visual and sound environment that the building would create.’

Hannah Robertson, of the University of Melbourne, receives the Dissertation Medal for her work Bush Owner Builder which develops culturally sensitive and appropriate homes for an indigenous community in the far north of Queensland. Designs that emerged from working closely with the Aboriginal community are now being built on ‘homeland’ sites. The judges said: “This dissertation warmed our hearts with its social concern. A sensitive and respectful piece of work, it rethinks the world of the architect and shows people not as clients but as genuine participants in the creative architectural process.”

In addition to the three RIBA President’s Medals, commendations were awarded to:

Part 1: Daniel Schinagl, London South Bank University, for Institute of Language and Knowledge

Part 2: Duncan Corrigall and Daniel Spence, University of Sydney, for Metamorphoses: Echo’s Retreat; Marie Kojzar, Royal College of Art, for Human Nature; and Christopher Christophi, De Montfort University, for Ecological research and macro algae monitoring facility, North Arsenale, Venice

Dissertation: Julianne Cassidy, University of Westminster, for Arka Pana: the Church in the City without God; Costa Elia, The Bartlett, University College London, for The Buyukada Museum: building new viewpoints on the Istanbul Pogrom; and Joanna Doherty, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, for Constructing the ‘Other’: the role of space in continuing conflict in Northern Ireland.

Congratulating the winners, RIBA President Angela Brady said:
“The winners of this year’s RIBA President’s Medals show the outstanding talent of today’s architecture students. With highly creative and inspired thinking they are confronting real social issues – and showing how quality architectural design improves the quality of people’s lives. I am delighted to present these awards.”

Philip Watson, Design Director, Atkins, added:
“The industry needs to encourage and celebrate creativity and innovation, which is why Atkins continues to support the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards. The best entries this year tackled social, economic and environmental issues head-on, showing real awareness and a refreshing sense of optimism.”

Daniel Schinagl and Christopher Christophi also receive the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Architectural Drawing. Travelling Fellowships from the Skidmore Owings Merrill (SOM) Foundation go to three students from the University of Liverpool, Steven Kok, Sean Peel and Hannah Wilson, for Zeitgeist Archive, Berlin, as well as to Bronze medal-winner Basmah Kaki.

The awards will be presented by RIBA President Angela Brady on Wednesday 7 December 2011 and winning projects will be displayed at the RIBA from 7 December 2011 until 28 January 2012. The exhibition will then travel to Newcastle, Liverpool and Dublin, with other venues in the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania and the United Arab Emirates to be confirmed.

This year saw the highest number ever of entries for the President’s Medals: 276 entries from 83 schools of architecture in 27 countries.

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Here's some text from Dose about the project:

The BLUETUBE BAR presents the TUBE-IT system as a feasible and flexible low-cost constructive resource. This system is based on the assembly of “corrugated tube” and “plastic clamps” and was tested in the construction of a temporary bar for the annual academic festival in Porto - [Queima das Fitas do Porto 2010].

Horizontally, the given intervention area was limited to a 3x3m square, whilst vertically the construction should not exceed 5m high. Constrained by the restricted budget, the requested functional device / building should nonetheless emphasize, by its materiality, an outstanding alluring outcome.

When applying the TUBE-IT system, the chosen main material - corrugated tube - is rolled up around a given existing structure in a helicoid manner. In addition to its structural purpose - i. e. to attach the different tube layers to each other as well as to the structure itself - the plastic clamps enhance the desired visual impact of the whole. This kind of tube, usually used in construction with an infrastructural role, becomes the design’s primary element.

Conceptually such an approach departs from a system of modular repetition and explores the continuity of a single element. The building process - managed “in situ” – stressed out and demonstrated both feasibility and versatility of the developed system, reinforcing at the same time the idea that it may just as well be capable of hosting a diversity of other spatial and constructive challenges.

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by Dose appeared first on Dezeen.