Degree Show 2025

Set in the rural Scottish community of Knoydart in the year 2035, this speculative design project explores how shared rituals, storytelling and environmental awareness can bring people together in a time of cultural shift. As increasing urbanisation and government incentives drive more people to settle in rural areas, communities face new challenges around identity, integration and a loss of heritage.

At the centre of the project is soil is seen not only as a natural resource but as a cultural and symbolic thread that connects food, memory, place and tradition. The project imagines a future Soil Festival, an annual event that creates space for residents, both long-time locals and newcomers, to come together through meaningful, creative engagement.

Through workshops, storytelling and interactive rituals, the festival encourages participants to connect with the land and with each other. Clay-making workshops use enriched soil to create expressive, plantable forms that represent personal identity. Storytelling sessions invite residents to share soil-inspired narratives, preserving culture and fostering empathy. The legacy of the festival is preserved in a growing archive housed in the community hall, holding artefacts and stories from each year as a testament to the community’s evolving identity.

What begins as a local initiative becomes a globally recognised model for collective living, environmental education and cultural celebration. Soil, often overlooked, becomes the medium through which people reconnect with the earth, with their heritage and with each other.