▣ TYPE: Postgraduate research
⧇ INSTITUTION: Central Saint Martins MArch
▤ KEY MATERIALS: N/A
▦ METHODOLOGY: Site visits / Systems analysis / BIM modelling / Film / Photography
⧆ COLLABORATORS: Arup / Sukshma Paranjpe

Acts Against Collapse is a research and design project which examines the existing material, cultural, social and economic contexts of the 10 regions of the United Kingdom, and responds to this context through the design of regionally specific housing typologies. Focussing on sustainable design and construction detailing, the work builds a body of research which contributes constructively to the dialogue around low-carbon design and material use in the context of the climate crisis.

The work explores what Critical Regionalism would look like in the 21st century. What would the language of housing be if we were able to build radically low carbon, regionally specific housing models? How might each of these respond to their own regional social and economic contexts?

The project concluded with the development of regionally responsive housing types, designed collaboratively in BIM within a few weeks, manipulating digital technologies to explore construction techniques which are rooted in inherited knowledge, and have none of the precision of CAD. This research expresses a concern for the local in an increasingly global context, making a case for the topographic, climatic conditions of a site, the tectonics of architectural construction, and the tactile sensibility of architecture.

TEAM: ​​Alastair Howard, Arran Noble, Awais Ali, Caitlin Latimer-Jones, Callum Brown, Christopher Gabe, Clausen Buchartts, Dhara Bhatt, Edmund Savory, Eleanor Marshall, Emily Cowles, Fern Roberts, Gabriele Pauryte, Jake Alfred, James Barrell, Ker Jia Goh, Laura Roberts, Mariam Aslam, Melina Athanasiou, Mollie Griffiths, Olivia Sutherill, Rebecca Faulkner, Rebecca Kalbfell, Sahar Ibrahim, Stephenson-Bartley, Tatiana Muringani, Thao Linh Le, Tim Lucas, Vicky Smith, Victoria Noakes, Yibeijia Li and Yih Lee