This academic year has proved to be a closer return to our pre-pandemic atmosphere but not without its challenges. Students returning to campus has meant a combination of enthusiasm and trepidation about engagement with practical making with many senior students meeting us for the first time despite being enrolled for a year or more. I am pleased to be joined by two new assistants, Paulina Voang & Angus Riddell, who have brought additional enthusiasm and expertise to the workshop team.
It is clear from our perspective that practical making maintains a strong appeal to our students who, as I type, are engaged in a wide array of processes to realise their design ideas through making. As we work towards expanding our workshop for the next academic year, we look forward to celebrating this year’s student achievements and welcoming new and returning students again in September.
Shaping Space – Architectural Models Revealed Exhibition
At the start of this year, we were proud to support this modelmaking centric exhibition held at the Building Centre London in collaboration with the V&A museum between September and March. The exhibition looked at the importance of physical models for architects and, through our contribution, how the act of modelmaking can be used to reflect and inform us about process, material qualities and practical logistics of assembly. Our task of producing a replica of the original design for the Royal Albert Hall helped to better understand how the heavily damaged original might have looked, how it was made and, what role it played in the design process.
More information on this project can be found at www.vam.ac.uk/blog/projects/piecing-together-the-old-and-new
Scott Miller
B.15 Workshop Technical Manager
