Tag Archives: b15workshopontour

WHAT WE DO HERE – Premiere and residency at TIME SPACE EXISTENCE during Venice Biennale 2018

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On Friday, 29 June the Venice Biennale saw the premiere screening of WHAT WE DO HERE; a documentary film about the role our modelmaking workshop plays in student and staff learning and development. In the basement of Humanities Bridgeford Street you’ll find the B.15 Modelmaking workshop which has served our architecture department since 1970.

The long-established workshop introduces students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level to modelmaking as an important design tool.

Documentary film makers Kieran Hanson and Howard Walmsley set about recording the plethora of daily happenings in the workshop environment back in September last year. The aim was to explore modelmaking pedagogy for the many students and staff at Manchester School of Architecture which frequent the workshop space. MSA is a joint school across our university and Manchester Metropolitan University giving students the benefits of both campuses.

Screening at the prestigious Venice Biennale gave the film the perfect setting. Architecture practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Simon Doody and award-winning furniture maker Hugh Miller presented before the screening which led to a constructive debate on the subject of making in design.

The film is now resident at the Time Space Existence exhibition space at the Palazzo Bembo on the famous Grand Canal. Entry is free, and it’s expected to attract many thousands of visitors across the summer up until the end of November 2018.

The completion and promotion of this film and its associated events would not have been possible without the University’s Investing in Success scheme which backed the project. The workshop team is currently planning a number of local screenings and UK events that will feature the film in the coming year.

A huge thank you to all who have contributed to this project in time, funding and above all morale support over the past academic year that has made it all possible. We’ll be announcing additional screening events in the coming months so keep a look our for those.

If you get a chance to visit Time Space Existence in Venice, tag @b15workshop #whatwedoheremsa on social media and enjoy!

Scott & Jim

UPDATE: With the conclusion of our associated events WHAT WE DO HERE is now available to watch online here. Thank you to everyone who has supported and engaged with the project!

Atelier La Juntana Modelmaking Summer school 2018 – MSA Exclusive Week July 10-16

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Following the success of last years MSA exclusive week at Atelier La Juntana 2017 the team can confirm that there will be another MSA exclusive week taking place this July between 10th and 16th. This week long course in the North of Spain is highly recommended and will introduce you to a number of different making techniques along with outlining the theory behind their use.

A video summary of last years course shows it’s contents in more detail:

Students from BA Year 1/2 and MArch year 5 are elegible to apply. For full course information click here to download the full course brochure.

Please contact atelierlajuntana@gmail.com stating your interest and year of study for further information.

Sign up whilst you still can!

Scott & Jim

 

Atelier La Juntana Summer School July 2017

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Between 19th and 25th July a group of 14 MSA students and B.15 took part in ‘Modelmaking in the Digital Age’ Summer school in the North of Spain. Atelier La Juntana has been run for several years by Architect brothers Armor and Nertos Gutierrez Rivas along with their father, Daniel Gutierrez Adan. This is the first time the course has been held exclusively for a single institution.

The course is designed to encourage individuals to investigate different materials and processes and in turn open them up the possibilities within craft for their presentations. This is not a course about conclusions but about the journey of exploration and how we should each take more time to appreciate the hand crafted approach in our work.

Throughout the week students explored the following, each involving many sub processes:

Silicone Mould Making, Resin Casting, Jesmonite Casting, Casting with Pigments, Plaster Mould Making and Casting, Clay Tile Sculpting and Replication, Sand box Moulding, Casting Aluminium, Photo Etching on Zinc Plates, Hard Etching on Zinc Plates, Press Printing, Paper Embossing, Screen Making and Screen Printing on Fabrics.


All students took part in these activities getting to know much more about each process and it application as well as building great social links with each other. Outside of the workshop the group were taken on a tour of the surrounding area of the Liencres nature reserve and also of Santander. The tour took in the cities Cathedral and other architectural landmarks before visiting the ‘Arte Y Architecture’ exhibition which featured work from previous workshops.In addition to the practical tasks undertaken each day there were introductory lectures explaining each process and its application as well as a lecture from Croatian architect Rosa Rogina who presented some of her work which has used modelmaking to help convey important human messages looking at the rebuilding of a coral reef and also about the impact of land mines across former war zones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The workshop culminated with a display of the outcomes from the across the week with each students explaining the process undertaken. Students were then given a diploma for their achievements before helping to put together a celebratory BBQ in the workshop garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We would like to thank everyone at Atelier La Juntana for making us all feel so welcome and putting on such a fantastic week for us all. In addition to that we would like to thank everybody who took part in this experience for making the trip over and getting involve. We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did and look forward to seeing the skills being used in your future projects!

It is hoped that the work will be put on display in the coming months here at Manchester School of Architecture and that Armor will be present to speak about the experience.

Look out for updates about this and future workshops! Find out more about Atelier La Juntana here.

Scott