Huge Architects

In early February, Dr Giamila Quattrone and Phil Owen @hugearchitects took 33 students from RE-heritage Studio to #Tuscany, #Italy, as part of “Vernacular Heritage and Cultural Landscapes in Lunigiana, Tuscany: from Knowledge to Preservation”. Now in its second edition, this collaborative teaching initiative, organised with @landi2166 and @paola_branduini Branduini from @department.dabc.polimi and supported by Mulazzo Municipality, saw @livuni students work on the same site as 16 @polimi students. Working at the landscape, settlement and building scale, students will be developing strategies and schemes for the valorisation of the #culturalheritage of #Mulazzo, a small shrinking mountainous town associated with the #MalaspinaFamily and #DanteAlighieri. The program started online with an introductory Colloquium (Denise Ulivieri, @paola_branduini , @landi2166 , Elena Zanazzi and @mat_vrett ), continued on site with guided walks and tours, site documentation, talks (Paolo Bestazzoni, @panichigianluca ) and the opening of the exhibition of last year’s student work at Mulazzo Town Hall by Mayor @claudionovoa_tosc . Once back in #Liverpool, students presented their preliminary understanding of the site. We look forward to seeing some novel design ideas at the interim reviews in two weeks’ time!

Initial massing and accommodation tests last week for @livuniarch 's BA3 RE-heritage studio interim review. Thanks to @rogerfstephenson88 , @nickjameswebb , Laleh Ramezani, @xi_junjie , Paco Mejias Villatoro and @konnart for their insightful feedback. #adaptivereuse #builtheritage #lydiateabbey

Today, in RE-heritage, we ran pin-up style tutorials to practice our presentation skills towards reviews next week. It was exciting to see different community-focused programmes shape up and early ideas translate into massing explorations and #adaptivereuse design strategies. Last, but not least, we had a superuseful talk from @livuni 's expert in graveyard recording, management and interpretation, Prof Harold Mytum, who share practical tips on how to deal with the small burial ground on the site of St Catherine's Chapel (Lydiate Abbey). Looking forward to next week!

It's been three intense weeks since @archiam_centre -led RE-heritage, @livuniarch BA3 studio focusing on #adaptivereuse of #builtheritage, started this year! In week 1, we visited our Semester 1 project site, the GRADE II* listed St Catherine Chapel, also known as Lydiate Abbey, and joined a history talk, especially organised for us by the Friends of Lydiate Abbey group, on the outdoor premises of the beautiful Scotch Piper Inn. We will be designing a community centre by remodelling the 15th/16th century Tudor-style domestic chapel, developing the surrounding grounds while paying respect to the site's graveyard. In week 2, we learnt about the site and wider context through a full day of presentations of group site analysis work. In week 3, @trace_researchgroup 's Dr @bie_plevoets delivered for us the lecture "Adaptive reuse of the built heritage: concepts and cases of an emerging discipline", in which she focused on the concepts and strategies of aemulatio and facadism.

'Evolution of an Elevation'. The photo is from 2021 when students from The Liverpool School of Architecture BA2 were relaxing after an informal walking tour + presentation on The people, The factors and The design decisions that sit behind a real life Elevation in the City of Liverpool. This was part of a series of similar events put on by the Architectural design tutors in an effort to encourage students to engage with reality after too much virtual teaching during the Covid lockdowns!! #liverpoolschoolofarchitecture #thelittlegrapes #liverpooluniversity

The ones that get away… Maryland St dreaming. A restaurant with a view into the kitchen.

A huge icon … RIP Ozzy

The Huge Shed is a timber framed building containing a double garage, a games room, a shower room and a kitchenette. #architecture #liverpool #sheds #riba

The Black House, Liverpool.

Lots of great schemes and interesting programmes were presented last week as part of @archiam_centre -led BA3 RE-heritage Studio’s final review. From ancient wines and recipes to traditional olive oil making, from stone carving to literary heritage, from historic walking trails to local vernacular architecture and construction, the rich heritage of Mulazzo and Lunigiana is celebrated. A topographically challenging and disconnected site is creatively linked up with a view to reactivating this shrinking historic town and improving access for all. A big thank you to our reviewers, who have generously supported the students through this journey with their expert feedback: @ntuadbe ’s @mariselamendozza , @department.dabc.polimi ’s @landi2166 , Ilaria Braghiroli and @livuni ’s @hana.koubkova . Image 1: Paradiso Rosso by Adam Twitchett Image 2: A Lasting Place by Alexander Barbe Image 3: Common Land by Maya Daryono Image 4: Via delle Radici – Path of Roots by Anika Kohli Image 5: Olive Branch Visitor Centre by Luke Dexter Image 6: Tales of Taste and Territory by Alex Meredith Image 7: Tradizione da Portare con Te by Ella Chapman Image 8: La Divina Vernaccia by Klea Peca Image 9: Gusto & Green by Aimee Brookes Image 10: Path to Paradise by Louis Shepley #heritage #adaptivereuse #ruins #traces #palimpsest #asfound #mulazzo #lunigiana

Yesterday and the day before, @livuniarch BA3 RE-heritage Studio presented their urban and architectural strategies as part of the interim review. Lots of interesting concepts around local gastronomy, arts and crafts are emerging around the heritage visitor centre in Mulazzo, Tuscany (Italy) brief to support the reactivation and accessibility of this historic town. Thanks to all our reviewers for their feedback and a special thanks to @department.dabc.polimi 's Dr Stefania Landi for providing very useful insider's insights. #RE-heritage #adaptivereuse