ABOUT TEAM STUDENTS BRIEFS ADMISSION
FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION
Rebuilding the Bank of England
Summer Term 2024
Ruins, once relics of the past, challenge modernist ideals, advocating for reuse and a nuanced relationship with nature. They symbolize both endings and beginnings, sparking inspiration for new creations. The Gandy Bank of England in Ruins is a canonical drawing in the history of architecture. In part because it is a tour de force of architectural representation. In part because its subject is a mysterious ‘lost’ masterpiece. It is an image that projects into the future, to a
point over the event horizon of a civilisation. We have no idea of the reason for its ruination. Was it Apocalyptic? War? Civilisational collapse? Abandonment?
Natural disaster? All we know is what we see: A great building of state in a state of collapse.
Soane and Gandy’s ruins however are not real ruins though. No event has occurred. The ruins instead are cultural. The question we should ask is what idea is Soane/Gandy’s ruin intended to evoke. The ruin and the ideas that ruins represent can be seen differently from our contemporary position. Ruins mean something different to us than they did for Soane. Or perhaps ruins have gathered even more meanings over the centuries. After world wars, after atom bombs, after ecological crisis, we have witnessed mass destruction on scales unimaginable to the 18th century. All this, and the scenes we see daily on our phones, are folded into the idea of the ruin.
What do ruins mean now? What do they mean in or for architecture? What are the issues culturally, ecologically, materially, economically? In London’s City, where tradition meets modernity, the Bank of England stands as a symbol of financial power amid shifting urban dynamics. The challenge lies in reimagining spaces for diverse uses while interacting with the history of the site.
Group 1: Christiane Braml, Joel Nikels, Mintong Lu
Group 2: Jonas Ranomser, Eda Sefa, John Clayson, Zhongzheng Zhang
Group 3: Maria Gross, Byron Roberts, Erfan Khosravi, Marlene Ortner
Group 4: Allen Bell, Hoda Balouchi ,Yurii Brytov
Group 5: Mohammed Sajad Ghaderi, Anzhelika Chernytska
Group 6: Ali Jafari, Meltem Cinar, Mikael Ristmets
Group 7: Melika Hadjarzadeh, Igor Ivanec, Asal Kavianfar
Group 8: Mihaela Carpov, Matthew Simpson, Laerke Virkelyst
Group 9: Hümeyra Cam
Group 10: Lucia Flir
(c) John Clayson, Mikael Ristmets
(c) John Clayson, Mikael Ristmets
(c) John Clayson, Mikael Ristmets
(c) John Clayson, Mikael Ristmets
(c) John Clayson, Mikael Ristmets
(c) Eda Sefa, Allen Bell
(c) Eda Sefa, Allen Bell
(c) Eda Sefa, Allen Bell
(c) Eda Sefa, Allen Bell
(c) Eda Sefa, Allen Bell
(c) Eda Sefa, Allen Bell