Each year, first year students spend their first term at the department designing and building a live project, working to a brief set by a local organisation. Previous projects have seen students build play equipment for the University of Cambridge primary school; install an interactive percussion wall at the Cambridge Junction arts venue, and realise several permanent structures at a local allotment, in conjunction with the charity Cambridge Cyrenians.
This year, the department is working with Queens’ College to create imaginative and engaging spaces to study. Drawing from their own experiences of studying in the most traditional sense, the students are eager to use this project to challenge accepted ideas of what it means to study. By designing structures that will connect Queens' students to their environment in unexpected ways, this project aims to repurpose under-valued sites within the college into a richer spaces that facilitate original and exciting ideas.
Alongside designing and building their proposals, it is up to the students to raise necessary funds for labour, tools and materials. The live project is only made possible each year thanks to the continued generosity of family, friends and industry partners. To find out more about the students’ work, or make a donation to support the project, visit aspacetostudy.wordpress.com.
Photo credits: Philipp Ebeling and Jim Ross (photos 1, 13 and 14)