MSA Stage 3 School of Architecture
Edward Christie
Hi!
I’m Edward Christie, a third year Architecture student. I’m currently studying at ESTAMadrid in Spain, (so you won’t see any of my work in the physical degree show), and my projects this year have been super varied and engaging. My focus in the first part of the year was on engaging with vernacular materiality and social ecologies, creating a space in Fort William that was all about the interaction of old and new, local and foreign, living and working.
My work at ESTAM has been very different, as I tried to take advantage of the larger university and different course structure to curate an interesting semester of unusual projects, from operatic stage design to city masterplans to analysis of medieval Moorish gardens. The project I have highlighted here is Construir en el Aire (Building in the Air), a design project inspired by midcentury architecture like that of Archigram and Superstudio. This project focused on new urban forms and the phenomenology of living at height, as an avenue to create a playful, provocative response to the nearby Royal Cathedral and Palace complex in the centre of Madrid. I have also included a “highlight reel” of other work carried out in Madrid.
These projects represent the most exciting and productive chapter of my design practice thus far, and hopefully represent my core architectonic interests and ideals – that the field is still one of radical, egalitarian future visions, and the process of construction and design is one that can be truly collaborative: with other designers and constructors, with the built and natural environment, with artists, philosophers and other dreamers, and perhaps most importantly with communities and regular people.
Contact
A Commonty of Conservation
A design for a workshop and accommodation in the heart of Fort William and Lochaber. Working on the deep retrofit of an existing building, preserving basic form and structure whilst developing a new programme which creates an ecology of community reuse, conservation and repair focused on abandoned rural buildings across Lochaber, going beyond extraction to create cycles of appreciation and interaction between tourists and locals.
A building which celebrates the new and embraces the old, where the structure maintains a physical presence and is highlighted to create unique spatial arrangements, acting as the primary resident of the new spaces at a variety of scales. Spaces open for moments of collaboration and mixed use, and close for moments of safety, peace and reflection.
Building in the Air / Construir en el Aire
– work completed on exchange at ETSAMadrid, Spain –
A complex, heterodox alignment of temporary and permanent infrastructure, a structure and space which challenges two dimensional conceptions of the city and creates new avenues of experience. The grid changes form, allowing for moments of denser community interaction and conversely feelings of height, singularity and the idea of being “in the air”. A building that grows out of the architect’s control, expanding and reforming to meet the needs of residents and a wider population, becoming a work of many authors and of many themes.
Una alineación compleja y heterodoxa de infraestructura temporal y permanente, una estructura y un espacio que desafían las concepciones bidimensionales de la ciudad y crean nuevas vías de experiencia. La cuadrícula cambia de forma, permitiendo momentos de mayor densidad en la interacción comunitaria y, a la vez, sensaciones de altura, singularidad y la sensación de estar “en el aire”. Un edificio que crece sin el control del arquitecto, expandiéndose y reformándose para satisfacer las necesidades de los residentes y de una población más amplia, convirtiéndose en una obra de múltiples autores y temáticas.
1 – circulation
2,3 – elevation and plan of site
4, 5 – entryways
6, 7 – 1:35 section of circulation in the air
7 – viewpoint
8 – 1:35 detail section
9 – 1:75 section of ground entrance
10 – view from C. de Bailén
11 – variations of a 2-bed typology
12 – render of the structure in 2045
Exchange Medley
My work on exchange has been very exciting and different from Glasgow, as I tried to take advantage of the larger university and different course structure to curate an interesting semester of unusual projects, from operatic stage design to city masterplans to analysis of medieval Moorish gardens. I have arranged a few of the smaller projects here, accompanying the larger Building in the Air design project.
