Eleanor Suess |
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Studio 2.2 2011/12 Liquid Light: Open Water Studio 2.2 focussed on the themes of Water, Light, and Time. In each semester these themes were embedded within the design projects, and their surrounding exploratory activities. Students explored techniques of film and photography to draw light and water, investigating the inherently temporal qualities of both. In November we travelled to Venice to study the relationship between buildings and water, and to apply some of the drawing techniques already developed.
The first semester design project dealt with film. Students’ film work was screened within temporary, “guerrilla” cinemas which appropriated existing spaces. This lead to the design for an open-air cinema in Shadwell Basin. In second semester students designed a city beach for East London – a Lido on the Thames. We visited some of the temporary beaches that appear along the Thames at low tide, occupying this interstitial space, claiming it for a short time as a space for social activity.
The public, social spaces of the cinema and lido were designed for the communities whose neighbourhoods are impacted by the 2012 Olympics, standing as counterpoints to large scale urban regeneration projects. Cinema and swimming are democratic, inclusive activities offering an alternative to the exclusivity of the Olympics.
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