Polyark II [Glasgow]

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Polyark II [Glasgow]

Cedric
Price’s Polyark programme of the 1970s achieved mythic dimension; the double
decker bus that hosted the original was allegedly boarded by many more students
of architecture than could actually have fitted – even allowing for standing
room. Did the bus break down? Did it attempt to board a MacBrayne’s ferry in
the Western Isles? Who was really on it? Does it matter?
The original Polyark can also be seen as a development of Price’s idea for the
National School Plan, originally published in The Architects’ Journal in March
1966. The NSP was critical of the limitations of UK architecture education, and
posited the idea of an amorphous but sharply responsive network of students and
tutors, offering a broader, more vivid education. But the bus and road is
replaced by the train and track.
Starting at the beginning of the new academic year in September 2009, Polyark
ll reflects the original idea of design undertaken in transit, shared and
argued over by a variable community of students and tutors, and operating in
Price-preferred conditions of calculated uncertainty. Temporarily colonising
the UK railway system, Polyark ll will involve eight schools of architecture
between Canterbury and Glasgow, and travelling in a line that traverses the
country from the Medway to the Forth. The eight schools of architecture
are:
• Canterbury School of Architecture, University for the Creative Arts
• The Architectural Association
• London South Bank University
• Birmingham City University
• de Montfort University, Leicester
• University of Lincoln
• Liverpool University
• University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

This
project page documents the travelling exhibition and installation carried out
by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow team and the work presented to the
partner school of Birmingham City University. The task
given to the Polyark Glasgow team was to analyse in depth an area of Glasgow’s
city centre, the Saltmarket, which had a strong historical and cultural connection to both old
and new systems of railway transit. Once a broad variety of analysis ranging
from mapping the area’s physical qualities, historical research and interactive
workshops had been carried out strategy’s for tackling the future development
of the site were produced, all with the intent of re-establishing the area as
an integral part of Glasgow’s urban and cultural fabric.

This
information was then collated and presented to the Polyark Birmingham team as
an exhibition and lecture with the intention of the Polyark Birmingham team
carrying forth and adapting the visions for the Glasgow site. In keeping with the ideas of mobility and design in transit, inherent to both Polyark I and II, GLA travelled to BHX by train and with the ‘Polyark Glasgow Suitcases’. Specifically designed for Transit I, these bespoke suitcases were used to primarily transport the exhibition and then secondly act as a stage to display key topics explored at the Saltmarket site: static, mobility, time, direction and timing. The Polyark
Glasgow team would also look to work on the Birmingham site which had been
similarly analysed by the Polyark Birmingham team. Polyark Glasgow's proposals for the Birmingham site ranged from interconnecting
personal rail lines intended to encourage social interaction, responsive topography abstracted from
collected audio recordings, dystopic visions of Birmingham embracing the seven deadly sins, to a ‘design your own’
master plan aiming to integrate the many cultures of Birmingham. Many of the projects incorporated an element
of agit-prop allowing the visiting students and professors to edit and adapt
the final exhibition, embracing the projects theme of calculated uncertainty.Polyark Glasgow are : Dele Adeyemo, David Buchan,
Cameron Burt, Steven Byrne, Marc Cairns, Ulrike Enslein, Allan Eunson, Mark
Feeley, David Fletcher, Jun Ho Kim, Paul Mann, Pui San Ng, Lesley Palmer, Mark
Thompson, David Webb, Pei Yong and Cameron Youngwww.polyarkglasgow.blogspot.comwww.meplusthree.co.uk

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Marc Cairns

Student - Team Member

Dele Adeyemo

Student - Team Member

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Polyark II [Glasgow]

Polyark II [Glasgow]

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team