Bartlett Students Win RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarship 2023

by Maciej Adaszewski, Architecture MArch (ARB/RIBA Part 2), PG24, Y4

In 1959, a Dutch energy exploration and production company, “NAM”, discovered a gas field which initially seemed like a gift in the context of the Netherlands’ struggling post-war economy. However, in 1963, the first recorded earthquake in the Groningen area took place. Any connection to the gas extraction has been categorically denied by NAM officials.

Nearly 60 years later, Groningen inhabitants are still facing the consequences of land exploitation. Experts assume that human-induced earthquakes will continue for years, due to the fluctuations in pressure beneath the ground caused by decades of fracking. No one knows precisely when the tremors will stop.

The project speculates an experimental settlement inhabited by the community seeking redemption in the spectrum of environmental consequences. Inhabitants of New Zeerijp refuse to accept monetary reimbursement and instead take on the goal of becoming the nurturing keepers of the land broken by exploitation. Technical ambition focuses on a flexible structure and challenges the notion of seismic architecture. It proposes a way forward built upon the acceptance of damage and ritualistic maintenance.

by Henry Aldridge, Architecture MArch (ARB/RIBA Part 2), PG11, Y4

With climate breakdown, the volume and nature of snowfall in Boston, Massachusetts is changing. The Boston Snow Council puts Boston politicians - to some extent responsible for local climate and pollution - inside a snow structure. In this way, they are in a building of their own making; the snow will be more polluted if they fail to curb emissions or melt more quickly if uninsulated buildings create an unnaturally warm microclimate.   

This project explores how a large-scale predominantly snow structure might be built and inhabited. Rather than constructing an oversized igloo, it uses the existing snow management of the city, having snow be piled into a large mound before excavating an inhabitable space. The structure only lasts for half the year before melting and being rebuilt. Moveable components enable the plan to be reconfigurable, changing with programmatic requirements such as hosting rallies for local elections or adapting to changing snowfall. 

Taking place on Boston City Hall Plaza, the Snow Council and its infrastructures play into the already-present programmes on-site. Protests, festivals, elections and City Hall functions all interact with and shape the Snow Council.