B.15 HENN modelmaking Awards 2022 Longlist and Shortlist now online

Thanks to all who have submitted to this years modelmaking awards! We received a huge 65 submissions across all year groups. This has been reviewed by our collaborators at HENN and a highly commended shortlist of 14 has been selected and informed.

This process is always very difficult and often hard to call one way or another. As far as we’re concerned all models are fantastic so all students should be proud to have engaged with this process and sometimes challenging craft.

The complete longlist can now be viewed here

The Shortlist

BA

Louis Walsh BA1
Cara Russell BA3
Anita Luburic BA3
Ruben Greyson BA3
Hannah Knight BA3
Fanny Bois-Berlioz BA3
MArch
Trisha Pradhan MArch2
Nur Farah Afiqah MArch2
Daryl Law and Jin Lee MArch2
Joeseph Cox and George Williams MArch2
Millie Evans MArch2
Adam Valman & Hayden Moores MArch2
Grace Corris and Karolina Vachalova MArch2
Megan Pledger  MArch2

Congratulations to all who took part and good luck to the 14 who will have their work judged on Friday 10th June by HENN.

Winners will be announced at approximately 18.00 on the 8th floor of Chatham to mark the start of the private view event.

Good luck to everyone and thanks for taking part and working with us this year,

Scott, Angus, Paulina and on behalf of HENN, Oliver, Pete and Dennis

B.15 Modelmaking Awards 2022 in collaboration with HENN

 

It’s that time of year again when the workshop days are loud, long and fruitful. As many students put the finishing touches to their models and head to the photography studio we’re pleased to announce a new collaboration with German Architectural practice HENN.

“We are proud to announce HENN will be collaborating with B.15 and the MSA for the 2022 Model Making Awards. At our studios in Munich, Berlin and Beijing, model making plays an integral role in our design process and how we perceive projects, and it’s very inspiring to see the possibilities of design through making in an academic environment.

For the past two years, we have participated in the judging of the Awards remotely and we are very excited to have the opportunity this year to see students’ work in-person. Looking forward to the show and we wish you all the best with your submissions!”

– HENN 

What are the awards? 

There are 4 equal awards given to students of any course and any year group at MSA. They are judged on a mix of reasoning, skill and final product and it’s important to note, no single criteria – all models are of interest. The award recognises the use of modelmaking in your design work for the 2021/22 academic year and consists of a cash prize and other items.

What are we looking for? 

Any individual or group projects from the 2021/22 academic year where modelmaking has been used to explore, develop or present your studio work, whatever it is and whatever it is made from, if it’s a model that helped you tell the story of your project it’s worthy of submission! Shortlisting will look for originality, build quality, materials choice and overall execution to make a decision on the final candidates.

What to you need to do and when?

Submissions must follow the format as provided in the InDesign template that you can download below. You must stick to the formatting of this page to maintain consistency in the submissions document. That includes the font which is also included in the download link following the criteria below. You can see examples of past submissions here. 


Submission Criteria

• Maximum 350 Words in the main body of text explaining:
a) Your project in brief, What was the purpose of your model(s)?
b) Your use of modelmaking at home/the workshop: scale, material and processes that you have used and why.

• Place 3 to 6 images of your modelmaking work (over the 2 pages) in its completed state these can include process images. Use captions to explain image content as shown in the example document.

• Models may have been completed from home, on campus, or a mix of both. Please clearly explain this whatever the case.

• Titles should be formatted as per the example. The main Text should be in Effra Font Size 10 (file included in the pack below if you don’t have it on your computer)

• 2 x Portrait A4 pages only

• Saved as a 2 Page PDF

If your submission does not conform to these guidelines it will not be included in the final document for judging.

Please submit your work by downloading this pack (Contains InDesign Template, Fonts and Example submission)

All submission must be received by 12.00 on Monday June 6th.

Send your submissions to scott.miller@manchester.ac.uk 

Projects will be shortlisted by HENN and announced by the end of June 8th.

Work will be judged in person on June 10th and the resulting award winners will be announced with other school prizes at the End of Year show on Friday June 10th approximately 18.00, 8th Floor Chatham. 


Some FAQWhat if my work isn’t on show? Please get in touch with us. We hope to display all entries that are shortlisted but not scheduled to feature in the end of year show at B.15 for judges to view on June 10th.

I didn’t use the workshop to make my model can I still submit? YES – this is an award for good use of modelmaking not exclusively about models made in workshops.I don’t think my work is good enough should I submit? YES – all modelmaking work submitted will be included in a combined document for Judges to see and for prospective employers and professionals to view via our blog. It can’t hurt to show off your hard work alongside your fellow course-mates and may lead to a job!I haven’t done a ‘final model’, should I submit? YES – the awards are not about final models exclusively but consider the use of all kinds of models for all stages of your projects.I have more than one model, can I submit them all? YES – many submissions are made up of multiple models (see previous submissions) so please feel free to include multiple models and describe them in your accompanying text.What if I’m in a group and we both want to submit? Group projects can submit as one and will be considered as a single submission. If a group wins then the prize will be split accordingly.


Best of luck with your submissions and the show build. We look forward to seeing your submissions!

Scott, Paulina, Angus and on behalf of HENN architects, Pete, Oliver and Dennis

B.15 Modelmaking Awards 2021 – Winners!

Hi all,

It goes without saying this has been a challenging year for everyone which makes it all the more rewarding to be able to celebrate the fantastic range of modelmaking work MSA students have been able to produce. Over 50 students submitted work to be judged by experts modelmaker/architects from our collaborators.

Judging was as always a fun process and it was difficult to come to final conclusions with all parties praising the varied work.

“It was refreshing to see a completely different approach to materiality because of the situation. Compared to previous years the lack of 3D printing and less laser cutting was refreshing to see that the use of these means that were there were really well thought out along with a lot of recycled materials being used. A great focus on what can I find to use as opposed to overuse of expensive materials and processes – Super Positive considering the tough situation we’ve all been in.”

Phillipa Seagrave, Modelmaker at Bjarke Ingels Group


It was decided that there would be 4 equal prizes, one per judging party.

Through a collective agreement the 4 winners are as follows:

Saul Bunyan BA3

Matthew Meeson MArch1

Dan Warren & Mona Tamaru MArch2

Patrick Davies MArch2


Judges from our collaborators were as follows:

SimpsonHaugh: Kaia Williams and Kristin Mishra

HENN: Peter Lee, Oliver Koch & Lando Schumpich

Bjarke Ingels Group: Phillipa Seagrave, Paula Gonzalez & Artemis Antonopoulou

 

Thank you all for making this a continued success and congratulations to our winners!

 

Take care, Scott & Saul @ B.15

B.15 Modelmaking Awards Submissions Document

Hi All,

The full submissions document for this years B.15 Modelmaking Awards can now be found here.

Judging has now taken place will representatives from Bjarke Ingels Group, SimpsonHaugh and HENN and the winners will be announced at the all school awards online presentation event on June 18th.

This was once again a very difficult process and all parties were very impressed with the quality of the projects given the difficult year everybody has had. All students should be very proud of their efforts and we look forward to working with you all again in future!

Scott, Saul and our collaborators

B.15 MODELMAKING AWARDS 2021

We’re very pleased to announce our annual awards will go ahead and that we’ll be joined again by the fantastic international panel consisting of representatives from: SimpsonHaugh (Manchester), HENN (Berlin) and Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen).

These awards are open to all students across all years of BA & MArch and we encourage anybody with modelmaking from studio/design work this academic year to submit.

Your work will be viewed by representatives from the collaborating practices and the resulting winners presented on June 18th at an all school event (link TBC).

What are we looking for? 

Any individual or group projects where modelmaking has been used to explore, develop or present your studio work, whatever it is and whatever it is made from, if it’s a model that helped you tell the story of your project it’s worthy of submission!

What to you need to do and when?

Submissions must follow the format as provided in the InDesign template that you can download below. You must stick to the formatting of this page to maintain consistency in the submissions document. That includes the font which is also included in the download link.

Have a look at last years submissions here as an example of how to lay out your work.

Key Criteria for your submission:

• Maximum 350 Words in the main body of text explaining:
a) Your project in brief, What was the purpose of your model(s)?
b) Your use of modelmaking at home/the workshop: scale, material and processes that you have used and why.

• Place 3 to 6 images of your modelmaking work (over the 2 pages) in its completed state these can include process images. Use captions to explain image content as shown in the example document.

• Models may have been completed from home, on campus, or a mix of both. Please clearly explain this whatever the case.

• Text should be in Effra Font (file included if you don’t have it on your computer) Size 10

• 2 x A4 pages only

• Saved as a 2 Page PDF

If your submission does not conform to these guidelines it will not be included in the final document for judging.

Please submit your work by downloading this pack

These must be submitted to scott.miller@manchester.ac.uk by 10.00am UK Time on Tuesday June 1st.

Good luck to everyone and well done getting through this year!

Scott and Saul @ B15

B.15 AT HOME AWARDS WINNERS

Following a great discussion from the judges and the winners presentation on June 26th we are excited to share the winning projects from the B.15 AT HOME Awards 2020. Click on the students name to view their submissions in full.

ALICIA DESMAY-HERNANDEZ – BA3 Continuity in Architecture

RUBEN GREYSON – BA1 

ISOBEL CURRIE – BA3 Continuity in Architecture 

LORNA LOVATT – MArch Y6 Urban Spatial Experimentation

 

A huge thank you again to our collaborators Peter Lee & Oliver Koch at HENN Berlin, Kristin Mishra & Kaia Williams at SimpsonHaugh Manchester and Artemis Antonopoulou & Phillipa Seagrave at Bjarke Ingels Group Copenhagen.

We can’t stress enough how great the submissions have been under such unusual circumstances and we’d like to congratulate everybody who submitted work. You should all be very proud of your efforts.

The full submissions document can be viewed or downloaded here.

 

And don’t forget the full MSA Degree show will be online for the next year displaying the full range of work from across the school.

Stay safe and look after yourselves. Hope to catch up in person soon,

Jim, Scott & Saul @B15WORKSHOP

 

B.15 AT HOME AWARDS – Student Submissions

After a challenging few months since the lockdown began it was great to see such a range of submissions for our slightly unusual award scheme this year. Everyone should be extremely proud of their efforts to keep a practical element to their design development and presentation from home.

Please congratulate yourselves and colleagues for this fantastic work!

>>>>The full submissions document can be viewed and downloaded here<<<<<

HENN Representatives, Oliver Koch and Peter Lee looking at the submissions in detail.

Modelmakers Assemble: The different judges and B.15 staff met to discuss their verdicts.

Submissions were independently judged by representatives from SimpsonHaugh, Bjarke Ingels Group and HENN last week following the submission deadline with a final discussion on Friday June 5th.

The winners will be announced as part of the MSA collective school prize giving event, date and time TBC within in the coming weeks.

For their time and expertise we would like to thank Peter Lee & Oliver Koch at HENN Berlin, Kristin Mishra & Kaia Williams at SimpsonHaugh Manchester and Artemis Antonopoulou & Phillipa Seagrave at Bjarke Ingels Group Copenhagen.

The full MSA 2020 Show will be online from Friday June 12th here.

Take care all,

Scott, Jim & Saul

B.15 AT HOME AWARDS 2020

We’re excited to announce a new awards scheme for this year open to all MSA students. This new scheme will award the hard work of students who have continued to use modelmaking in their design work during the ongoing lockdown situation.
With students spread across the world at a time when we would normally celebrate the culmination of everybody’s hard work together, it seemed fitting that the work be judged internationally as well.

The panel will consist of representatives from the following practices:

SimpsonHaugh (Manchester, UK)

Bjarke Ingles Group (Copenhagen, Denmark)

HENN (Berlin, Germany)

Each practice will receive the list of submissions and, based on the criteria as explained below, choose their pick from this years home-made projects.
Judges will be looking for a clear explanation for the model(s) role in your design work, The methods and materials you have used and how well they are presented/photographed.


How to submit your work

In order to have your work judged you must use the InDesign template included in the link below. Refer to the example page included in the download pack for an insight into the content that might feature in your submission. Be honest about the situation by concisely explaining your practical limitations and how you chose to overcome them.

Key Criteria for your submission:

• Maximum 350 Words in the main body of text explaining:
a) Your project in brief, What was the purpose of your model(s)?
b) Your use of modelmaking at home: scale, material and processes that you have used and why.

• Place 3 to 6 images of your modelmaking work (over the 2 pages) in its completed state these can include process images. Use captions to explain image content as shown in the example document.

• Models should have been completed from home but can include elements produced before the campus closure, please clearly explain if this is the case, how elements were produced.

• Text should be in Effra Font (file included if you don’t have it on your computer) Size 10

• 2 x A4 pages only

• Saved as a 2 Page PDF

If your submission does not conform to these guidelines it will not be included in the final document for judging.

Please submit your work by downloading this pack

Once completed please submit your pages saved as PDF back to scott.miller@manchester.ac.uk no later than 12.00 (UK) Tuesday June 2nd 2020

There will be three awards with the winners announced on June 5th in conjunction with the launch of the MSA Digital Show.


This is a unique opportunity to have your work seen by representatives of these internationally successful practices so don’t hesitate to submit your work.

The range of practical work produced over the last 8 weeks deserves to be recognised so we’re pleased to be able to present this platform to enable that to happen. Good luck and we encourage everybody who has taken the time to make models since campus closure to take part!

Jim, Scott & Saul

Modelmaking above Alexanderplatz – Peter Lee at HENN Architects, Berlin

Earlier this summer I visited MSA Graduate Peter Lee at HENN Architects Berlin Office. Located overlooking Alexanderplatz, HENN is an international architecture office with additional offices in Munich and Beijing. They have a wide-ranging experience in work space, culture, health, education and research as well as production and master planning. It’s a great pleasure to see graduates take their modelmaking skills into practice. Where possible I always try to take the opportunities to learn just how these skills are used in their work and this has been one such occasion. Peter has been kind enough to discuss his experience over the last 3 years in practice since graduating from MSA.


After graduating from my masters in 2016 I wanted a bit of a change from Manchester so started applying for jobs in cities that I wanted to live in, mostly abroad, and HENN was the first place that got back to me. The job description was particularly interesting in that it was a mostly model making role within the design / competition team, which suited my skill set pretty well.

On a day to day basis I produce a lot of sketch models, mostly for internal use which really helps with making design decisions. Because of the fast pace of competitions (they generally last a month or two), people are often jumping between projects. Having a model in front of you is a much easier way of understanding site conditions, massings and contextual relationships than working purely with software because it has this tangible quality. 

The workshop has a laser cutter, spray booth, hot wire cutters, disc sander, sandblasting cabinet and Ultimaker S5 3D Printer. Mostly we work with foam, card and acrylic – occasionally we get things outsourced or made in the HENN Munich office, which has more machines available for woodwork.

In terms of setup it’s a lot more restricted than what the students have access to at B.15 which is mainly due to spatial constraints. The office is located in a 70s East Berlin tower and there isn’t enough space for more equipment -however, it’s more than sufficient for producing competition / presentation models. It also serves a different purpose as a workshop for a commercial practice – B.15 is more about giving students the opportunity to learn and therefore supports a wider variety of techniques and materials that aren’t necessarily appropriate or efficient for me to use.

Most of my time is spent on massing and context models but it really depends on what is important to the project – it could also be façade models, mock-ups of internal spaces, more conceptual pieces etc.

Around two years ago I produced a sketch model for an office tower competition in Hamburg which we went on to win. The massing was derived by cutting out foam slabs and arranging them to generate a stepping double height void moving up the lower part of the building. When placed in the context model and compared with other designs it was clear that it was the right way forward – while it was more conservative than some options it fulfilled all the masterplan requirements while retaining an interesting spatial logic.

The competition was also a different format from usual in that we had a lot of contact with the client / developer during the design process. People always love it when you turn up with a model, especially if it’s not required – in this case we brought a lot of sketch models which gave an insight into the design process that the client wouldn’t normally see. It’s also more interesting to have something more tactile in front of you instead of being sat in front of slides and slides of presentation, which definitely worked in our favour.

Leading practices at the moment like Morris and Co, Carmody Groarke are really pushing the use of models as an important design tool and it would be good to see that trickle down into the majority of practices. I have had two architectural jobs before this one – the only time models were around was for presentations and they were always built by a specialist model maker. Software is all well and good but I feel you can always make better design decisions if you have a physical representation in front of you.

If I could change anything about my work on a personal level it would be to be a bit more poetic with my model making through abstract / conceptual models and material explorations – most of what I do at the moment is pretty representational. Having said that, I really enjoy my job here. It can be long hours from time to time but it often feels like an extension of architecture school due to the quick nature of competitions and room to experiment. It’s also good to see models being used as a design tool and being able to use my skills to collaborate with other specialists, such as computational designers.


Thank you to HENN for allowing us to share this insight and to Peter for his thoughts, time and continued enthusiasm towards the work we do here in B.15.

– Scott

Peter at work in on his MArch final major project B.15 Workshop in May 2016