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Archipelago

Part 1 Project 2022
Jamie Christopher Michael Harrison
University of Cambridge | UK
The surface quarries of the Isle of Portland are in various states of transition from industry to landscape as processes of stone extraction move underground. They form a swathe of fragmented landscapes which, taken together, can be described as an archipelago.

Looking specifically at Tout Quarry, this project argues how an ‘archipelago’ design strategy that is derived from these topographic conditions presents a new urban possibility for Portland. Rather than extending the town of Easton as is currently occurring due to housing developments, it can be used to inhabit the landscape.

That one particular development requires the demolition of a local primary school gives the impetus for designing a new school for the brief, along with a series of playparks. The nature of new inhabitable platforms that the school occupies is determined by the positioning of the walls and spoils existing on site, using them as elements off of which to build.

The project responds to broad questions as to how topography can inform a timeless architectural order that quietly but permanently frames ruined landscape as a place with great social potential rather than wasteland; and a form of urbanity that does not recognise a distinction between town and hinterland.

Jamie Christopher Michael Harrison

Tutor(s)
Laurence Lumley
Freddie Phillipson
2022
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