“Geology has its entropy... where everything is gradually wearing down... The irreversible process will be in a sense metamorphosized... It may be that human beings are just different from dinosaurs rather than better. In other words, there just might be a different situation.”
Robert Smithson, 1971
Taking the idea of geological entropy from Robert Smithson, the project attempts to question the life cycle of urban artefacts and seek solutions to stimulate the pursuit of longevity.
Urban Sedimentology is an architectural paradigm operating within a new legislative framework. It opposes Excavation, Demolition, Expansion, and provokes reuse, re-purposing and the re-assembling of what we already have. By sourcing material from the city and densifying existing urban fragments as sedimentary layers, Urban Sedimentology claims a geological approach to architecture.
Above all, it places value on what we collectively own as a community, as a society. It allows for adaptation to new needs while respecting our past. It is an architecture of longevity and slow change – an architecture that always reconciles and accepts.
Thanks to Miraj Ahmed and Martin Jameson
- The Warming Competition 2021 -
Overall Winner
- the Best Environmental & Technical Thesis at the AA
