Design for Manufacture Conference 2024: Design Responsibilities

Design Responsibilities

To bring together the past fifteen months of research and explorations graduating Design for Manufacture MArch students will present the outcome of their research projects with a one day conference at UCL at Here East followed by a keynote address. 

The programme explores the tangible qualities and values within creative processes, aiming to address global challenges through the student driven exploration of materials and production techniques within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sectors.

Over centuries, manufacturing has often prioritised profit through resource consumption. In contrast, Design for Manufacture MArch has the capacity to integrate resource and contextual awareness, expanding design’s role in shaping the built environment. The field highlights the sector's challenges, including reliance on contractual risk management, unstable work continuity, and financialisation within large firms. Engaging with these realities, the programme fosters material and process innovation, emphasising design’s capacity to bring diverse forms of value into the construction process.

The conference will run 10:00 - 17:30 followed by a keynote address 18:30 - 19:30. Full schedule to follow in due course. 

The Bartlett Fifteen Show

The Bartlett Fifteen Show is a public exhibition celebrating fifteen months of innovative work by graduating Design for Manufacture MArch, Design for Performance & Interaction MArch and Situated Practice MA Master’s students. The work exhibited is diverse and forward-thinking, exploring and creating new forms of practice. The exhibition will include films, performances, structures and ephemera.

For the first time the show will span both The Bartlett School of Architecture's east London campus, UCL Here East – where the three programmes are based – and at its central London campus, 22 Gordon Street. A parallel digital show will be hosted on our award-winning virtual exhibition platform at bartlettarchucl.com.  

Image: All students, ‘Adaptive Assembly and Disassembly'