Design Studio (Two) One BA Architecture

Corinna Dean & Florian Brillet

Corinna Dean works at the intersections between landscape, infrastructure and urban ecologies. She is a member of the Expanded Territories Research Group, recipient of the British Council’s Gender Ecologies Pakistan, and holds a Collaborative Doctoral Award from LSE and Tate. She has exhibited at RIBA, the Isle of Sheppey, South London Gallery and Kochi Muziri Biennale, Kerala.

Florian Brillet is an architect who has collaborated with internationally-acclaimed architects such as Dominique Perrault and Jean Nouvel. These experiences inform his independent practice where his projects blend architectural innovation with social and cultural engagement.

DS(2)1: Refuge for Resurgence

Students: Shatha Al Busaidi, Raquel Baah-Robertson, Dilay Bakici, Clevy Bento, Viona Drejta, Adam Ferrari, Anshika Jain, Miakael Koufou, Sofya Livshits, Dania Marafi, Luisa Moreno, Harold Ng, Mattia Philipson, Rivka Rabinowitz, Fernando Santini, Maira Shahid, Cem Uyal

This semester, DS(2)1 explored the hidden Roman baths site adjacent to Somerset House, as a site layered with historical, ecological and programmatic significance. Drawing inspiration from J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World (1962), which imagines a future where climate change reshapes familiar landscapes into surreal, inhospitable environments, students designed an inhabitable installation that addresses the reality of climate change and its impact on both human life and biodiversity.

As in Ballard’s vision of a submerged, tropical London, the studio’s designs reflected the tension between collapse and adaptation, where humans and nature are forced into new relationships within the altered environment. The Semester 2 brief expanded the students’ field of attention to the wider environment around Somerset House to consider the role of nature in an urban context and what the meaning might be of an urban farm.

Key Design Considerations of the studio:

Climate Responsiveness: Implement passive design strategies (natural ventilation, daylighting and water management) to support humans and local wildlife.

Multi-species Accommodation: Create spaces that cater to both human habitation and form habitats for flora and fauna, mirroring the co-existence of species in Ballard’s imagined world.

Material and Sustainability: Focus on sustainable, future-forward materials that reduce environmental impact and consider life-cycle and re-purposing.

User Experience: Enhance sensory experiences, fostering connection to the site’s natural and historical layers.

Historical and Cultural Layering: Respect the site’s historical significance, as Ballard’s novel reflects the collapse of a civilization, with the new installation addressing both preservation and transformation.

Temporal Change: Plan for how the design will evolve in response to seasonal shifts and long-term environmental changes, much like Ballard’s portrayal of a world in flux.

Special thanks: Hanna Hendrickson-Rebizant, Marcus Lee, Signe Pelne, Toby Pullen