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UG10 is committed to exploring architecture as a vehicle for equity and social justice. We are interested in exploring themes of decolonisation and what this means in an architectural and social context through spatial concepts and tectonics. Students are encouraged to explore Indigenous architecture through an understanding and celebration of these construction techniques. The unit positions itself to learn from global cultural and social references that are delivered through physical and illustrative architectural propositions.
Each year UG10 selects a Latin American region to focus our investigations into typologies that include construction idioms and techniques, funding streams, design activism and material iterations. We promote speculations on radical ideas, design solutions, resilient futures and alternative visions. This year we looked to Guyana, situated in South America and bordered by the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans to the north, Brazil to the south and southwest, Venezuela to the west and Suriname to the east. Guyana enjoys a mix of ethnicities including the African diaspora, Indian (South Asian), Amerindian (Indigenous Native Indian and European mixed heritage) and Chinese, among others. The country also possesses strong cultural and ethnic links with nearby Caribbean islands.
Guyana is predominantly an English-speaking country due to its history as a former British colony. It was colonised by the Dutch before coming under British control in the late 18th century, and was then governed as British Guiana until the 1950s. British Guiana was once one of the main colonial ports in the trans-Atlantic slave trade between Europe, Africa and Latin America. It gained independence in 1966 and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Geographically, Guyana is one of the least densely populated countries on Earth. Due to this low human densification, it enjoys a wide variety of natural habitats with high biodiversity, reflected within the vernacular construction typologies and materials.
UG10 design projects are situated in the London Borough of Lewisham, which has one of the highest populations of Afro-Caribbean heritage in the UK. Named as the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture in 2022, Lewisham is on the verge of widespread regeneration within which our students’ work sits. We have learned from, been inspired by and celebrate Guyana in our design proposals for the city.