William Hodges Yr 4

In Search of Sand and Slowness With the conception of the second industrial revolution in the early 20th century, the age of mass production and subsequent consumption began to truly transform modern lives. It was this anthropic activity, propelled by
a political system of advanced capitalism which ultimately led to the epoch defining moment that saw human impact become a geological force within the material make-up of the planet. It is within this context of human- centric operation that the extraction of sand, minerals and aggregate are reaching unprecedented figures, and thus, formulate the premise of a global super-wicked problem of spiralling industrial activity in desperate need of address.

Sand has varied and widely interchangeable applications, and is a unique transformative material which can mutate and evolve when put under specific conditions and processes. It is within the industrialised landscape of the Thames Gateway where the project is sited, with a rich history of manufacturing and where over-exploitative extraction scars the landscape with the stains of human dictatorship. Through the lens of Sorokin’s theory of socio-cultural dynamics and posthumanism, the project is in search of the regenerative potentiality of this extractive ecology, leaning into the radical changes needed, induced through decades of industrial inertia.

The project seeks to synthesise anthropic activity with that of natural cycles, formulating a ritualistic landscape of regenerative exploration, transformation and production through an architectural proposition that is symbiotically in tune with planetary systems. The Skills School trains and establishes a new framework of tradespeople specialising in regenerative construction. This new found industry will augment the Fourth Industrial Revolution; a naturocentric practice focused on earthly material innovation, holistic design and a radically slower life.

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