Dezeen School Shows: a multi-disciplinary project exploring the experiences of people with chronic illnesses is among the projects from the University of Portsmouth.

Also featured is a conservation proposal for a naval site in Gosport, UK, and another exploring writing systems and scripts informed by Indo-European languages and traditions.

University of Portsmouth

Institution: University of Portsmouth
School: School of Architecture, Art and Design
Courses: MA Interior Architecture and Design, MA Architecture: Building and Heritage Conservation, MA Architecture: Spatial Design Practices, MA Architecture: Landscape and Urban Design, MA Graphic Design and MA Illustration
Tutors: Belinda Mitchell, Rachael Brown, Oren Lieberman, Tarek Teba, Paula Craft-Pegg, Antonino Di Raimo, John Pegg, Michael Harkins and Jac Batey

School statement:

"Our postgraduate courses are informed by cross-disciplinary practice research, which are impactful on both regional and global scales, addressing strategic thinking, creative processes, sustainable design and community engagement.

"Our integrated approach to teaching and research in architecture, art, and design produces innovative projects and insightful, career-focussed graduates. Our research-informed pedagogies nurture practitioners, artists, makers, designers, architects and researchers for the creative and cultural industries.

"MA Interior Architecture and Design explores the production of interiors through feminist philosophy and sensory, material, and digital practices.

"MA Building and Heritage Conservation encourages conservation as a creative act to rethinking the future of the historic built environment.

"MA Spatial Design Practices explores space as relational, contingent, and political through commensurate methods of spatial design and thinking.

"MA Landscape and Urban Design explores regenerative, context and eco-system led approaches to urban design.

"MA Graphic Design encourages exploration of divergent methodologies, envisioning these as potential 'real-world' solutions via research approaches to design.

"MA Illustration encourages practitioners to advance their arts practice by exploring traditional and innovative techniques, through fact and fiction-based illustration."

This is Not a Pointless Machine by Luca Di Stravola

"This Is Not a Pointless Machine explores how architecture can transform urban fragmentation into interdependence.

"Responding to Winchester's disconnected communities and traffic-dominated public realm, the project reimagines Kings Walk as a shared environment where different rhythms overlap rather than remain separate.

"Creative studios, workshops and open public spaces form a self-sustaining ecosystem in which resources, knowledge and abilities circulate collectively.

"Through porous architecture and ecological strategies, the proposal encourages visibility, participation and exchange, reframing the city not as a collection of isolated groups but as a network of relationships that continuously shape and sustain one another."

Student: Luca Di Stravola
Course: MA Interior Architecture and Design
Tutors: Belinda Mitchell, Rachael Brown and Oren Lieberman
Email: distravolaluca[at]gmail.com

Hilsea Halt: Under Over by Perran Hollands

"This sectional piece was created using layered line drawing over a pastel chalk background, producing depth and a sense of entanglement.

"Designed for my daughter, Hilsea Halt, Under Over, draws inspiration from the surrounding environment.

"It reflects an imagined insect hideout beneath a boardwalk, leading to a place of rest where humans and non-humans coexist.

"The drawing brings attention to often-unseen wildlife and highlights the subtle, yet vital role humans play within these ecological cycles.

"Developed with local wood and in collaboration with artists, the project merges activism, multispecies ecologies and close observation of nature."

Student: Perran Hollands
Course: MA Interior Architecture and Design
Tutors: Rachael Brown and Oren Lieberman
Email: perran.hollands[at]myport.ac.uk

Hilsea As a Field of Pause by Deger Arslan

"Hilsea as a field of pause is presented as a coherent spatial system, bringing together the overall plan, programme diagrams, technical sections, and a 1:20 hybrid collage drawing.

"Rather than treating the pavilions as isolated objects, the drawings reveal a layered field where landscape, structure, circulation, and atmosphere operate together.

"Elevated platforms respond to tidal fluctuation while coloured glass volumes define different spatial intensities through programme and light.

"The sequence illustrates the transition from movement to inhabitation, connecting ecological processes with everyday social use.

"Together, the drawings communicate the project as an adaptive, permeable and environmentally responsive field rather than a single architectural object."

Student: Deger Arslan
Course: MA Interior Architecture and Design
Tutors: Rachael Brown and Oren Lieberman
Email: deger.arslan[at]myport.ac.uk

Laboratory Cottages: A Conservation Proposal at Priddy's Hard by Alvin Loo

"Building on archival and social research, and empirical analysis, this project proposes a conservation plan for the Laboratory Cottages at Priddy's Hard, a historic naval site in Gosport.

"Constructed in 1847 to accommodate Royal Laboratory workers, the cottages were later adapted for storage, reflecting the site's changing military functions.

"Now in a deteriorated state, the project evaluates the building's significance and develops an adaptive reuse strategy, transforming the cottages into a blacksmith's workshop and exhibition.

"This approach preserves historic fabric, while reactivating the building for public engagement, linking its industrial past with Priddy's Hard's current role as a cultural and creative hub."

Student: Alvin Loo
Course: MA Architecture: Building and Heritage Conservation
Tutor: Tarek Teba
Email: alvin.loo[at]myport.ac.uk

Shared Ground by Natalia Rankau

"Shared Ground is a reflective architectural scheme developed through site-led work at Hilsea, Portsmouth.

"Through walking, observation, cyanotypes and material studies, the project explores relationships between people, landscape and shared space.

"Inspired by the rhythms of root systems, water flows and collective movement, it proposes a series of lightweight timber interventions that encourage reflection, play and social interaction.

"Made from locally sourced and reclaimed timber, the structures respond to site ecology and material cycles while offering adaptable spaces for gathering.

"The project positions architecture as a medium for connection between people and nature."

Student: Natalia Rankau
Course: MA Architecture: Spatial Design Practices
Tutors: Rachael Brown and Oren Lieberman
Email: natalia.rankau[at]myport.ac.uk

Lacustrine by Atiyeh Masoumian

"Chichester's brownfield edge of abandoned gravel pits south of the city is re-imagined to develop a new high density urban village.

"The south facing site overlooking the expansive lakes separating Chichester from the A27 present a new elegant face and identity for this quarter of the city.

"The lacustrine ecology is protected and enhanced as new nesting habitats are developed on and around the lake edge.

"The development gifts the city a new mixed neighbourhood sustainably served by its proximity to rail and road infrastructure whilst preserving and significantly enhancing the biodiversity of Chichester."

Student: Atiyeh Masoumian
Course: MA Architecture: Landscape and Urban Design
Tutors: John Pegg, Paula Craft-Pegg and Antonino Di Raimo
Email: atiyeh.masoumian[at]myport.ac.uk

Exploring Cultural Influences on the Visual Design of Writing Systems by Charlie Germany

"Writing systems offer unique windows into the cultures that created them, preserving important objects, ideas, and social values through visual symbols.

"This project explores the relationship between script design and culture by imagining a writing system for the Yamnaya people, the pastoral society often associated with the spread of Indo-European languages and traditions.

"Drawing on evidence from pictorial scripts such as Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mayan writing, alongside archaeological, anthropological and linguistic research, the study examines how the Yamnaya worldview may have shaped a script of their own.

"In doing so, demonstrating how writing systems can illuminate ancient societies and beliefs."

Student: Charlie Germany
Course: MA Graphic Design
Tutor: Michael Harkins
Email: charles.germany[at]myport.ac.uk

Collection Based on Lithuanian Traditions by Elena Gliebute

"The collection consists of twelve cards featuring illustrations of traditional Christmas Eve dinner dishes.

"An illustrated book of sixteen Lithuanian pagan gods, and a concertina book featuring nine Pancake Day masks and a traditional rhyme chanted on the day."

Student: Elena Gliebute
Course: MA Illustration
Tutor: Jac Batey

Playing With the Critical Council by Angela Chick

"An exploration into creative block caused by critical inner voices and how I may use this to support others in dealing with their own.

"There are five characters who make up The Critical Council: The Inner Critic, Imposter Syndrome, People Pleaser, The Underminer and The Destroyer."

Student: Angela Chick
Course: MA Illustration
Tutor: Jac Batey

The Diagnosed and the Dismissed by Ricky Vaughan Mercer

"This project explores the experiences of people living with chronic illnesses and neurodivergent conditions, highlighting how they are frequently misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or dismissed within healthcare systems and society.

"Through first-hand testimonies, it gives individuals a platform to share the realities of daily life, revealing the emotional impact of living with invisible challenges.

"Combining textiles, graphics, typography and animation, the work creates a powerful visual narrative. Inspired by inkblots and pareidolia, it examines themes of categorisation, recognition, and belonging.

"By making hidden experiences visible, the project transforms feelings of isolation and neglect into an empathetic and engaging experience for viewers."

Student: Ricky Vaughan Mercer
Course: MA Graphic Design
Tutor: Michael Harkins
Email: ricky.mercer[at]myport.ac.uk

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and University of Portsmouth. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.