Fibre-optics Factory : Kingston upon Thames Part 1 Project 2000 Nicola Ray Kingston University Kingston | UK The new telecommunication and optical technologies have shifted the way we work, socialise and consume; conepts of space and specifically place, are questioned and transformed. In stark contrast to this is the production environment of this technology: the optical fibre.This became the ground for a series of investigations concerning territory, occupation, time and the rhythm of the 24hr factory set against the less repetitive and perhaps more incidental activities of a riverside site.The site in Kingston is part of the changing Thames landscape; a shifting ground which has been seen in the past both industry and leisure. The strategy for the factory becomes a series of layers that explore and celebrate the dualities explicit in site, programme and occupation: secret/declared, power/knowledge(information), blue/white, natural/artificial, place/non place, veiled/transparent, corporate/public, production/waste, night/day.... Nicola has a technical background which has given her great freedom and confidence to pursue her own path. She often has quite an individual and imaginative interpretation of a project, and examines thoroughly every conceivable aspect of an idea. She is strong formally and has an amazing ability to represent her work both visually and orally.One can imagine being in the spaces she crafts, while retaining a lightness of touch. But don't be deceived by this delicacy, it can hide a strong and often witty agenda.Nicola is a perfectionist and this can lead to her agonising over the tiniest detail, but her joy in revealing and celebrating each nuance is inspirational to both her colleagues and tutors alike.