Group 08
MAKE BUILD

Our Partner, The Make Bank, tackles creative poverty amongst youth in the UK by distributing materials and creatives kits. Tackling the issue of "the unknown" that comes with applying to Architecture School, our project aims to produce a series of videos & tutorials for young students thinking of studying the subject by telling personal stories of our journey and developing 101 Architectural Skills videos. As a result, this will essentially help to build a portfolio and give an overview of the subject. More information about our Collaborator can be found on their website themakebank.org.uk. Follow them on Instagram and Twitter @the_makebank and Facebook @themakebank

Download Final Report

Trisha P / Elisabeth Adele F / Cameron S / Qixian Z / Xiaowen L

MEET THE TEAM!

CAMERON SMITH
MArch Year 05
Atelier : USE
BArch
Oxford Brookes University

IN PRACTICE
I worked for two years in two different practices. The first year I worked at a small 6-person practice in Liverpool called Craig Foster Architects, here I mainly worked on shopping centres and a large series of gas-fired power stations. In my second year, I worked for Donald Insall Associates, a national practice with around 130 people spread over a number of offices around the UK and specializing in historic buildings. Located in the Chester office I mainly worked on, a grade II listed hotel on the banks of the River Dee in Wales and a housing scheme within the listed gardens of an old manor house.

INTERESTS IN ARCHITECTURE
I'm interested in architecture designed closely around its programmatic function and creative use of technology, materials and detailing. My favourite buildings are The House For Essex by FAT architects & Greyson Perry as well as the Querini Stampalia palace by Carlo Scarpa

OUTSIDE OF ARCHITECTURE
I enjoy walks in the countryside and photography. I am also keen on sailing and kayaking. Gardening tends to be a stress reliever. I have fun cooking different dishes as well.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:07

MEET THE TEAM!

ELISABETH FROSHBIER [ LIBBY ]
MArch Year 5
Atelier : PRAXXIS
BArch
Oxford Brookes University

IN PRACTICE
After having worked at Paddock Johnson during the summer of my second year, I then returned for another year post graduating from oxford Brookes. Whilst at paddock Johnson I mainly worked on social housing projects.

INTERESTS IN ARCHITECTURE
My interests within architecture include using hand drawing as an exploration process. Further to this, understanding that architectural language can often be exclusive by nature, I enjoy finding alternative means to communicate architectural ideas.

OUTSIDE OF ARCHITECTURE
My interests outside of architecture include a variety of needle work. I enjoy sewing, knitting and crocheting in my spare time. I take pleasure in hiking in the outdoors as well.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:08

MEET THE TEAM!

OLIVER MEADS
MArch Year 05
Atelier: USE
BArch
Manchester School of Architecture (common ground)

IN PRACTICE
I have worked for Leach Rhodes walker in Manchester on the hotel concept team. I developed feasibility studies, planning proposals and construction drawings for a range of brands such as Motel One, Radisson, Hilton and other independent clients. I have also worked on many private dwellings as a freelance designer.

INTERESTS IN ARCHITECTURE
I’m particularly interested in residential architecture and aspire to run a practice of my own which specialising in bespoke homes and housing schemes.

OUTSIDE OF ARCHITECTURE
I have a passion for art, fashion, design and culture in general. I work as a gallery assistant and picture framer. I also worked as a bartender for many years developing menus and have won cocktail competitions for brands. I also love cars, music and Netflix.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:09

MEET THE TEAM!

TRISHA PRADHAN
MArch Year 05
Atelier : &rchitecture
BArch
University of Lincoln

IN PRACTICE
I worked at a multidisciplinary firm in Bedford, called Woods Hardwick, for a year. I was part of the residential team and worked on schemes of different sizes for a variety of housing developers. Most of my time was spent using photoshop, AutoCAD and Sketchup to produce masterplans and visuals for these schemes.

INTERESTS IN ARCHITECTURE
My interest in both the creative arts and technical workings of objects lead me to choose to study architecture. Initially I was unaware of the comprehensive nature of the course. Since starting I’ve developed a particular interest in the experiences, emotions and attachments architecture and the built environment evoke.

OUTSIDE OF ARCHITECTURE
I have a particular interest in food and trying cuisines form different cultures and countries whilst also attempting to cook them. I Rock Climb when I can and enjoy taking walks and hikes around built and natural environments. I’m fond of board games and binge watching series and movies whilst doing art related activities on my days in.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:12

MEET THE TEAM!

XIAOWEN LIANG [ XIAO ]
MArch Year 05
Atelier: USE
BArch
Shanghai Institute of Technology

IN PRACTICE
In my junior year, I was excited to work as an intern in TJAD for a short period of time, which enabled me to have a preliminary understanding of the architecture industry outside the university. The second practice I worked at was Urban Union Design Limited after graduation.

INTERESTS IN ARCHITECTURE
I’ve always had a keen interest to study architecture. I like aesthetics, rationality and curiosity. I enjoy all aspects that are involved the subject. I also enjoy the tiny scales and details that are involved in design.

OUTSIDE OF ARCHITECTURE
I am a curious person by nature, which makes me interested in many things. I particularly enjoy listening to music, singing and playing musical instruments.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:14

MEET THE TEAM!

ZHANG QIXIAN [ DERRICK ]
MArch Year 05
Atelier : USE
BArch
CSUFT

IN PRACTICE
I have worked in two practices. I first worked at a company called Aeseu for 6 months and worked on the design of a school called new campus of Nanjing Agricultural University. The second practice I worked at was a real estate architectural design company called PTA in shanghai for one year. I was mainly working on high-rise residential buildings design.

INTERESTS IN ARCHITECTURE
I chose to study architecture because as I am a big fan of Le Corbusier. I quite enjoy the process of exploring, designing and creating designs in architecture

OUTSIDE OF ARCHITECTURE
I am a traveller. My dream is traveling around the world, experiencing different culture and interacting with different people as the world is worth exploring. Besides this I am, I am keen on photography. Taking pictures is perfect way to retain fleeting beauty.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:15

MEET OUR COLLABORATOR!

KIRSTY THOMAS
MAKE BANK

Kirsty Thomas, a former Art and Design Teacher, is the driven Founder of the Make Bank. Outside of The Make bank she is also the Director and Founder of the design studio Tom Pigeon.

The Make Bank is a social project which addresses issues associated with creative poverty. They enable disadvantaged young people to pursue creative educations and careers. The Make Bank started this journey in 2018 and continues to impact creative lives of the youth throughout the UK.

Website:
https://www.themakebank.org.uk

Instagram : @the_makebank
Twitter: @the_makebank
Facebook: @themakebank

Posted 1 Mar 2021 22:27

-Skills-
Over two weeks we're aiming to make five videos for prospective architecture students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These videos will focus on the following skills, physical model making, sketching, photography, mapping and portfolio. Along the way there will be evening talks from guest speakers on related topics. Through making these videos and engaging with these speakers we will expand our knowledge and skills in these topics and the production and editing of videos.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 23:45

Working alongside the Make Bank, Make Build aims to make the initial access point into architectural education more inclusive by sharing our knowledge and experience through a series of videos. These viceos are aimed at demonstrating how creativity and architecture aren't limited to expensive materials and can be accessed by all.

Posted 1 Mar 2021 23:57

MEET OUR FISRT GUEST SPEAKER
Robert Houmøller, a former Ba Architecture Tutor from Oxford Brookes University, now runs Merrett Houmøller Architects with Peter Merrett based in London and Sheffield. They specialise in design as a process of making, influenced by location and the end users. As a tutor and designer Robert is a keen advocate for casting as a process of making both for its finalised product but also for the process of mould making which forces in depth consideration of space and void. On Monday the 10th May 2021 Robert will be kicking off our two week project with a presentation about casting.
More information about Roberts award winning architectural work or teaching can be found at the links bellow.
Website: https://www.merretthoumoller.com/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/merretthoumollerarchitects/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mh_architecture
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merretthoumoller

Posted 5 May 2021 08:52

Elisabeth Adele F

Meet our second guest speaker
Grace Shepherd is currently a master’s student at the National Film & TV School, studying set design. Grace will be giving a talk about how concept collages and art can be used as a methodology and prompt to start a project. As well as discussing how her skills that she learnt in her undergraduate architecture degree at Oxford Brookes, such as creating illustrations and narrative, have translated into her current course. We're looking forward to hearing Grace's presentation on Wednesday 19th May. More information about Grace's work can be found on her Instagram @gracejanetshepherd

Posted 5 May 2021 17:29

DAY 1

First Project Meeting

We really enjoyed meeting everyone all of our BA1 and BA2 team members today! We had a few ice-breaker introductions and planned our videos. We're looking forward to starting filming the footage tomorrow!

Posted 10 May 2021 21:31

DAY 1

Meeting our First Guest Speaker

We would like to thank Robert Houmøller for his insightful talk on casting! All of us really enjoyed the lively discussion about the merits, methods and qualities of casting well as other architectural views.

Posted 10 May 2021 21:38

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 2

To start off the day, we looked through all of the video storyboards that were created yesterday for our video themes (architectural photography, sketch models and sketching). By talking through the various storyboards that the BA and MArch team members had produced, we were able to see the similarities between them. Now that we've agreed on which storyboards, we're going to film, we're spending the rest of the day filming.

Posted 11 May 2021 15:08

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 2

Filming has started. Here's a quick look at the behind the scenes of the filming for our Architectural photography workshop video. We're excited to see what the final outcome will look like!

Posted 11 May 2021 16:09

DAY 2

As part of our video workshops, we're creating example outputs (such as photographs, models, and sketches). Above is one of the examples from our photography workshop.

Posted 11 May 2021 16:33

DAY 2

As part of our video workshops, we're creating example outputs (such as photographs, models, and sketches). Above is a series of clips as an example for our Architectural Sketching workshop.

Posted 11 May 2021 23:55

DAY 2

Creative Set-Ups!

Filming has started! There were some really creative filming setups today! Here's one of a camera phone held onto a table lamp with some good old masking tape, which also happens to be the support for the lamp neck!

Posted 12 May 2021 00:00

The footage from yesterday’s filming is looking great and our first day editing videos is going well. We are all learning lots of new skills editing videos through Adobe Premier Pro, YouTube tutorials are coming in very helpful.

Posted 12 May 2021 14:43

DAY 2

As part of our video workshops, we're creating example outputs (such as photographs, models, and sketches). Above is a series of clips as an example for our Model making workshop.

Posted 12 May 2021 16:42

DAY 2

Above shows the equipment we use to record sketching and the process doing sketching in our Architectural Sketching Workshop.

Posted 12 May 2021 18:08

DAY 2

Filming has started!
Filming the preparations to make model, one of the steps is shown above. Set up a phone holder, get the materials and tools ready, and get creative! Looking forward to the final work!

Posted 12 May 2021 20:45

DAY 3

In addition to video editing, we've enjoyed producing some video graphics for consistency and to tie the video series together.

Posted 12 May 2021 23:15

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 4

Working from home, we've had to find interesting solutions to get clean audio for the voice over of our videos. Here is one of the MArch members of our team recording the voice over for the photography workshop video.

Posted 13 May 2021 14:14

DAY 4

Top Tips: Sketching!

We have a few top tips sessions scheduled to share knowledge on the tips and tricks of different architectural mediums. Today was the first of three sessions where we discussed how to integrate different sketching styles into architectural drawing and the importance of iterative sketches.

Posted 13 May 2021 15:34

Great to see everyone learning so much whilst editing the footage together. One of the Ba students (Satish) has learnt to create animations like this which we will be using to annotate parts of the Photography tutorial video.

Posted 13 May 2021 20:44

DAY 5

Top Tips: Model Making!

We had the second of three sessions where we discussed how to choose digital model making software, shared individual tricks and experiences of making models.

Posted 14 May 2021 11:49

DAY 5

Premier and Pop-corn!

To end our first week of Make Build, on Friday we had a premier to showcase all the video tutorials produced by the group for architectural sketching, model making and photography. All the BA students produced amazing videos bringing in their own personalities with consistent graphics.

Posted 17 May 2021 00:19

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 6

Filming has started for our final video, a workshop on how to make both digital and physical portfolios for applying for architecture. Here's a quick look behind the scenes. We're excited to see the final outcome!

Posted 17 May 2021 15:35

DAY 6

This week one of the subgroups is making videos to guide students through making a portfolio which could be used for applying to an undergraduate architecture course. The aim is to demonstrate how this can be done physically with only basic tools or through free digital software. Here is an example of one of the physical portfolios made as part of these tutorial videos.

Posted 17 May 2021 15:55

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 6

To start off the day, the video subgroup created a series of storyboards for the portfolio workshop video. By talking through the various storyboards that the BA and MArch team members produced, we were able to see the similarities between them. This resulted in the combined storyboard, which you can see in this post. Now that we've agreed on the storyboard, we're spending the rest of the day filming.

Posted 17 May 2021 16:32

[12:38] Elisabeth Adele Frobisher

DAY 6

Publication Production: Layout

The publication subgroup started the day by discussing what the publication was and planning how the final work that we worked on last week as well as the work to be produced further in this week would be arranged. The different ideas from both the MArch and BA students about the types of pages and where each page should be placed was very effective to finalise the layout of the Publication.

Posted 17 May 2021 23:33

Having fun learning filming techniques, speed ramping and transition effects to put together B-Roll sequences for the physical portfolio video tutorial. Here is a little gif as a teaser of what we’ve been making today.

Posted 18 May 2021 15:11

Our InDesign top tips session went well this morning with everyone including BA and March students learning something new from each other.

Posted 18 May 2021 16:07

DAY 7

Client Feedback

We received very positive feedback from our Collaborator, Kirsty Thomas of the MAKE BANK on all the videos we produced last week. She commented saying all of the videos were clear and easy to follow with on-brand use of the graphics and colour schemes. We were very pleased to hear that she was very happy with how the tutorials have turned out. She requested a few changes within the videos which we will be working on this week alongside the fourth tutorial and personal stories to send through on Friday.

Posted 19 May 2021 00:55

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 8

Alongside the architecture workshop videos, we are also creating a series of personal journeys into architecture videos. One of the MArch students (Cameron) has set up a small booth to film his personal story.

Posted 19 May 2021 14:10

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 8

We have all been learning new skills during MSA Live. For example, Wan, from BA1, has been learning how to make videos look like cartoons in adobe after effects. The video she has produced so far looks amazing and we can't wait to see the final outcome!

Posted 19 May 2021 14:23

DAY 8

Meeting our Second Guest Speaker

Our evening talk with Grace Shepherd was inspiring and intriguing! She gave an insight into how students who have studied architecture at the undergraduate level can branch off into different other creative career paths. The questions and discussion that followed her presentation on how she uses skills she learnt as an architecture student to start a set of design projects prompted very interesting conversations. The BA students commented that it was a breath of fresh air to hear about other subjects students in architecture could pursue in the future.

Posted 19 May 2021 23:58

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 9

We're now in the final stages of video editing, ready for the video premier session this afternoon. This screen shot is taken from the 'how to make a digital portfolio in PowerPoint' video that BA student Satish is currently working on. Satish choose to use PowerPoint to show how a portfolio can be made in software easily available to high school students. In particular students who are looking to apply for creative courses, such as architecture.

Posted 20 May 2021 09:55

Elisabeth Adele F

DAY 9

Premier and Pop-corn!

This afternoon we had our final premier to showcase all the video tutorials produced by the group on the theme of architectural portfolios, as well as presenting the publication. All the BA students produced amazing videos and really pushed their own boundaries to learn new skills. We can't wait to send off the videos to the MakeBank tomorrow.

Posted 20 May 2021 16:25

WE'RE DONE!

We have thoroughly enjoyed the two weeks working alongside the BA students and getting to know them despite it being through a screen. It was bitter sweet saying sending them off after our final call today. The MArch team would like to thank all of the BA students whole heartedly for they’re enthusiastic involvement during the project.

Heres a quick sneak peak of our publication to sign off.

Thank you!

OVER AND OUT!

Posted 21 May 2021 17:09

Download Final Report