‘We are surrounded by subjunctives, by the form of possibility. It could all be very different.’ – Alexander Kluge

All architecture starts with a plot – be that a piece of land lying dormant and waiting to be discovered, a sly scheme, a model by which to realise one’s ideas or a good piece of narration. Experimental Unit 10 will use the plot as its point of departure, focusing on the interplay between the different facets of the term: context, strategy and exposition.

In exploiting the ambiguity between the clarity and open-endedness of a given term (i.e. plot), the unit fosters each student’s individual strengths and inclinations, and the decision-making power that occurs in a collective (unit). In a world in which the youth appears more sincere, daring and influential than distinguished heads of state and long-standing institutions, our object of desire remains the city that surrounds us – London. It is our home: local, mundane and touchable; the largest city of Western Europe; the capital of a dwindling, post-imperial state and increasingly home to the top 1% of the global population by income. In this environment, what can be added or revoked as a young architect? How do we establish a position or claim a space? How can we bring about change and what does change even mean?

Term one will be occupied by small, experimental tasks and skill-building exercises to sharpen our faculties of examination and expression. In term two we will focus on our playing field, the metropolis, beginning with the identification of a plot and an analytical survey that will gradually build up to a critical proposition – be it social, physical or lyrical. During the third term, we will refine our arguments through writing and editing. We will travel to an unfamiliar city to chart its distinct spatial conditions, only to reimagine them upon our return.

The survey of a given context and the identification of its key drivers and influences are essential components in how the unit operates. Above all, the process of addition and subtraction to and from an existing context will form a mantra throughout the year – not only as a tool of design, but also as a way of producing evidence… the plot thickens.