Category: Architecture

A team of student architects will unveil their vision for an English Civil War memorial centre at the site of Newark’s historic medieval castle.

The free public exhibition of architectural designs and models will open at Newark Castle on Friday 12^th and Saturday 13^th June 2015, highlighting the rich cultural heritage of the town.

A £5.4 million National Civil War Centre opened in the town centre Newark Museum earlier this year. As part of their Architecture course at the University of Lincoln, UK, second year students have imagined their own version of the facility inside the walls of the castle, which was central to the historic war.

The English Civil War (1642-1651) was a series of conflicts that profoundly reshaped politics and society. Newark Castle, which was founded in the 12^th Century by the Bishop of Lincoln, was partly destroyed during a battle in 1646. It is now a Grade I listed building and recognised as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The two-month student project was led by Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture & Design, Dr Primali Paranagamage. She said: “We are very much looking forward to presenting our designs to the public. Newark is rich in historic architecture and we hope this exhibition will encourage residents and tourists alike to appreciate and celebrate the local cultural heritage.”

“The exhibition will include some designs which are extremely modern and contemporary, whereas others stay true to the Castle’s architecture and the incorporate the site’s original features. It is so interesting to see how the same space – which in this case is of huge historical significance – can be interpreted in so many different and inspiring ways.”

In preparation for the exhibition, the Lincoln students were granted special access to archives by Newark Castle Park Warden, Floss Newman, to learn about the monument’s origins, how it has evolved over hundreds of years and its timeline of historic events.

The exhibition will take place inside the Undercroft of Newark Castle. Visitors will be able to view miniature models of the Castle grounds, which have been created using state-of-the-art laser cutting technology at the University’s School of Architecture & Design, as well as architectural sketches and computer illustrations. Members of the public are also invited to contribute their comments and feedback on each of the designs, both at the exhibition and online.

Admission is free and the exhibition is open from 10am-5pm on Friday 12^th and Saturday 13^th June 2015.

For more information, visit: www.newarkexhibition.com

Words: Elizabeth Allen

Expertise from the University of Lincoln has once again contributed to a win at one of the world’s most prestigious flower shows.

The Essence of Australia garden, which Dr Duncan Rowland from Lincoln’s School of Computer Science worked on, won a Gold Medal and Best in Show at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Dr Rowland’s research into how Twitter can be used to control and affect external objects was used to regulate a water feature within the garden.

This follows the University of Lincoln’s Gold win at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2013. The unique Twitter-controlled garden, Digital Capabilities responded to live Twitter activity, enabling the public to directly influence how the garden appeared at any one time.

That project was a cross-disciplinary collaboration between academics from the University’s School of Computer Science, School of Psychology and School of Architecture together with designers Harfleet & Harfleet.

The inspirational Essence of Australia garden was designed by the Australian landscape designer, Jim Fogarty, for the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne in partnership with Tourism Victoria, Tourism Northern Territory, Qantas and leading UK tour operator, Trailfinders.

It tells the story of the Rainbow Serpent, an Aboriginal dreamtime story about a mythical creature that lived underground and created the mountains and the gorges. Visitors can ‘wake up’ the serpent by tweeting #EssenceOfAus. The presence of water in the Australian landscape is also an integral part of the design.

The garden celebrates Australian flora and contemporary design, evoking the relaxed feel of Australia and Australians’ love of outdoor living as well as celebrating the states and gardening landscapes of Victoria and Northern Territory as two key travel destinations for British holidaymakers.

Dr Rowland’s primary research interests focus on engaging in creative practice to explore the human condition via relationships with digital devices and more traditional media.

He said: “It was fantastic to see Twitter activity controlling the water feature, which represented the waking of the mythical serpent. But what is also nice on a personal level is that the curiosity-driven research I initially did on interfacing and Twitter has had such immediate utility. I began by simply turning my desk lamp on and off with Tweets and set up a Tweet-able webcam in my office window. The work developed and was then included in the Digital Capabilities garden last year.

“It’s great to be able to evidence the value of blue-sky research at Lincoln and it has been an honour to work with such well-respected horticultural talents again.”

Dr Rowland’s research is also used in the University’s STAN (Science Technology Architecture Networks) research project, which is exploring whether architecture is able to reflect and map human emotions. The STAN garden, which is controlled by people’s responses via Twitter, consists of an articulating raw steel structure that continuously transforms itself. Follow STAN on Twitter @thestanproject

It appeared recently at the Garden Up horticultural event in Sheffield and the Lincolnshire Show.