In my third year at the Ecole Spéciale in Paris, i joined the studio of Ricardo De Ostos, a London based architect exploring symbiotic relations between emerging cultural patterns and architectural narratives. His work is largely engaged in ambiguous situations within urban and social dynamics for which the studio explores alternative narrative-like scripts.
For this project, we had to focus on a narrow pedestrian street in the vicinity of Angel in London called Torrens street.
Our choice of program was going to revolve around beer as London is so famous for its pubs, and finally we settled for a brewery. As the available space on the site was rare, we decided to implant it on the rooftops and began the research for the concept behind the project.
Studying the beer fabrication process, we identified the different steps and designed the elements in the cyberpunk universe. They would be hanged from a metal megastructure on top of the buildings, a maze of translucent pipes linking them and forming an envelope to create spaces to welcome people. A new way of circulating in this iconic London street would be possible. The "parkour" concept which transforms urban elements into a giant playground for acrobats inspired us in creating this open space promenade.
The entire brewing process is made visible, and the product is consumable directly on the site, in small spaces enveloped by the beer circulating pipes. This goes with the "short track" way of consumption where products are consumed on their production place to limit transport and environmental costs. A new way of consuming directly on the spot.
©NicolasPlatonHadjimichalis2022