The Bartlett Showcase: December 2013

In early December, 30 students and members of staff from The Bartlett joined guests at the Elixir Bar to enjoy the latest installment of The Bartlett Showcase. The Showcase, a twice-yearly event, offers a platform for academic staff and PhD students at The Bartlett to share their research passions and spark debate about the built environment.

Research student from The Bartlett School of Architecture, Sabina Andron, opened proceedings with her presentation over 100 time-lapse images of Leake Street, a tolerated graffiti tunnel in south London, whilst fellow PhD student Stylianos Giamarelos shared his efforts to explore the challenges of researching the history of postmodern architecture in Greece, a country often peripheral to such discourse.

Fresh from a busy few weeks running the UCLoo Festival, Dr Tse-Hui Teh, a lecturer at The Bartlett School of Planning, walked the crowd through her research with focus groups looking at responses to freshwater shortage and urban sanitation. Tse-Hui’s presentation also included a short participant-made video looking at a life-cycle response to sanitation.

After a quick break for a chat and refilling-of-empty-glasses, Dr Tristan Smith from the UCL Energy Institute, offered a sneak peek into his research on shipping. Using real-time datasets, Tristan pointed out the shockingly huge carbon footprint shipping produces, and proposed some fascinating innovations that may just save the world.

Dr Naji Makarem, a lecturer at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, then took us to California for a look into his research on the San Francisco Bay area, exploring the specific historical instances which have led to the economic success of the region.

Finally, Dr Stephen Marshall, a reader in The Bartlett School of Planning, took an entirely different show-and-tell approach to highlight the relationship between a selection of objets d'art and the exciting possibility of built environment research.