Rage Against the Pristine Part 1 Project 2024 Roisin McMillan University of Cambridge | UK ‘Rage Against the Pristine’ is a strategic proposal which recentres young people in rurality. The project proposes a youth centre in the form of a microcosmic village, surrounded by a rewilding scheme, responding to the needs of local young people now and in the future. It offers a flexible space to be appropriated and played with, giving license to East Cambridgeshire’s teenagers to explore their interests and sense of identity.Because of its historic Village College (that acts as an East Cambridgeshire social condenser), Bottisham became an apt location holding a unique opportunity to access rural young people, a vulnerable group. There are two subjects to this project, youth and rurality, that intersect in a complex manner: while both concepts are burdened with nostalgic idealisation, young people can be viewed and experienced as chaotic elements which threaten the romanticised quietude and valued traditions of the village. The only way to successfully centre youth is to challenge this ideal, embracing the energy and lean into the liveliness of young people. By doing this, the metrics shift: young people participate in civic society by subverting, challenging, and reappropriating it. Tutor(s)