MARCH School is a partner of London Metropolitan University, and therefore for the third year already, the graduates of its master's program have been exhibited together with the works of students of the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Design of LMU - the Cass School. In 2014, the Cass award was given to the work of Maria Tyulkanova, and this year - to Nadezhda Chadovich. In addition, this time two diplomas - Nadezhda Chadovich and Maria Kurkova - were nominated for the President's Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). This award for the best final work of a student of an architectural university certified by RIBA has been presented since 1836: this is the institute's oldest award, even its famous Gold Medal - a little younger (it was established in 1848).
In addition to the RIBA leadership, the success of aspiring architects in London can be appreciated by everyone - from potential employers to the general public. Exhibitions of diploma works of architecture universities are open to everyone, and this year they became part of the annual
London Festival of Architecture and has been reviewed by leading British architecture critic Rowan Moore in The Observer weekly.
This year the London "delegation" of MARSH was made up of the deputy director of the school for the international project Ksenia Adzhubei, the last year's graduate Maria Tyulkanova, this year's graduate Denis Makarenko and the first-year master's student Ksenia Malkova.
We publish their story about the exhibition at Cass and their London experiences.
Ksenia Adjubei, Deputy Director for International Projects and Curator of the Integrated Design module of the MARCH School:
“All students participate in the Cass graduation show; the foundation course has its own premises, the first course also has its own hall. The unit system starts from the 2nd year of the bachelor's program, and from that point on, students exhibit their work by studio. An exhibition of magistracy is also organized: each "unit" has its own department at the general exposition. As a rule, different stages of educational programs are placed on different floors in order to create in the viewer a clear understanding of the stage of study at which the author of a particular work is.
For the past three years, we have been giving the opportunity for students of the MARSH program (and will soon include the Bachelor's program here) to participate in the Cass graduation exhibition. Moreover, at the exposition, we act with Cass as a single school, since our educational methods and programs have one ethos. MARCH participates in the exhibition not as a guest, but as a part of a common and important educational culture; our students receive awards at the main award ceremony and can feel like they are part of a larger community. For graduates, this is the completion of their relationship with the London Metropolitan University; in September they receive their diplomas, and the graduation exhibition is an important moment when they can see their work in the context of the LMU, as well as the work of their British peers who came from London to Moscow as part of joint programs or with whom they lived during their visits to London.
Against the background of the general exposition, MARSH projects differ from others, but not in quality or style, so we emphasized that these projects were made in Russia and for her: this year - for Moscow and the Solovetsky Islands. The work of students is strong not only graphically: they reflect an approach to the problems of the place, developed in a year (or half a year - in the case of 1st year master's studies), and it was important to convey the depth and degree of involvement of projects in a complex, mesmerizing context and real problems - and this is by far what an international audience finds most interesting.
The graduation exhibition is a very important tradition. This is the first public display of the work to which a person has dedicated a year of his life. It is especially important for graduates who present their graduation project: according to the methodology of our school, it should be a multifaceted reflection of their professional position. These are projects on the threshold of professional life, in which the authors defend their personal philosophy: they will develop it throughout their lives. At the time of the opening of the exhibition, this position was shown to the public for the first time in its completed form, in the context of the works and topics of other studios. This is a very important point in comparing the approaches of different studios and projects, but it is also a way out into the world.
Architectural critics and journalists come to the final exhibitions, heads of architectural bureaus are potential employers. All major architecture media review the exhibitions of leading architecture schools as they feel the spirit of the future. Still, graduation shows are not job fairs. At Cass, a professional approach to curating and exhibiting design is always felt, and students are tested on important skills in working with structures and communicating with “lay people”. For graduates of both bachelor's and master's degrees, the exhibition is the last and most significant, in the literal sense, "creative exhaust" before starting to look for a job in a bureau. This is a solemn moment when for the first time you can show your close people and, perhaps, even the previous teacher the results of your development - for what these sleepless nights and sacrificed weekends were for the sake of studying. This is the moment when the discoveries made during the year can be proudly put on display.
For MARSH, participation in the Cass student exhibition is even more important, because we demonstrate not just student works, but projects that were created in conditions of a certain “non-integration” into the international architectural context (although our students have some advantages over other Russian universities: invited professors, such as Peter Merkley, access to the electronic Cass library, travel abroad, etc.). It is impossible to predict in advance how the projects of our students will look against the background of English studios … The process of organizing an exhibition in another country, in another language is not an easy task, about 20 students took part in the organizing committee of the exhibition, and three went to the editing and opening. Every year our part of the exhibition is greeted with great interest and sincere praise. It is an incredible shock for the students themselves to see their projects at the exhibition as part of the works of the London Cass school, as part of an international discourse about the future of cities, territories and countries. It is extremely important to integrate them as actively as possible into the system of professional values and self-esteem, into the global context, if we want to improve the quality of Russian cities with the help of architecture.
In the future, we want as many students as possible to travel to the opening of the exhibition in London, ideally the entire graduation course. It is necessary that the feeling of a solemn declaration of their professional and creative position at the exhibition, which is attended by about 2000 people on one opening evening, remains with our students as a reminder of what they understood for themselves during their studies at MARCH."
Maria Tyulkanova, graduate of MARSH-2014:
“In my opinion, Russia lacks a similar situation in London. We have good universities, many new schools and curricula have begun to work, which have become an alternative to traditional architecture, art and urban planning education (Strelka Institute, MARSH, BVShD, Higher School of Economics, Sreda, etc.), every year there are many different festivals related to architecture and art, as well as urbanism. The difference and plus of the London Architecture Festival (LFA) is that it opens “under the same roof” (with one theme), but at different venues: you can watch diploma works in architecture universities, listen to lectures, go to presentations and visit exhibitions,scattered throughout the city - this is such a "sooo big Celebration of Architecture".
I was greatly impressed by exhibitions in architecture schools - probably the best option for applicants, students and professionals. At these exhibitions, it really becomes clear what students are doing, how research is conducted, and what projects they are doing. If you are an applicant, this will help you decide on a university, a professional - to find a new employee (near many projects there are business cards and postcards with the contacts of the authors), and students are happy to show their work and the work of friends, and many are interested and curious about what colleagues are doing in others schools.
Recently, Moscow hosted ArchMoscow - a very official and serious event: there was an installation from MARCH and young bureaus, lectures, meetings, presentations, but it was squeezed into the framework of the Central House of Artists. In fact, it is difficult to judge the creativity of architects who are trying to shove all their complex work, the most interesting projects into one object or room. LFA is a little about something else, it is more like a party of old and new friends, where doors seem to open between schools and bureaus, eminent architects and young professionals. I'm not saying that ArchMoscow is bad, and LFA is good: no, the London festival is just different. It seems to me that we are missing just such events right now, which create a closer dialogue in the professional sphere and, moreover, make the architecture open not only “for our own people”: anyone can join this action. It's great."
Denis Makarenko, graduate of MARSH-2015:
“For me, the value of participating in this exhibition was not only the opportunity to see the work of other students, but also the opportunity to look at our projects in another format. While working on the theme "Sacral - Mirskoe - Solovki", our studio had many presentations of various types: micro-presentations in the studio itself, diverse presentations at the MARSH school, a presentation in the administration of the Arkhangelsk region, a presentation in the Solovetsky monastery - and now within the framework of the student exhibitions in London. Each time, preparing a presentation for a new audience, you try to be as clear as possible, find more precise wording, and each time it is a test of the strength of the ideas inherent in the project.
One of the ideas in the design of our London exposition was to show that the work on projects in our studios is sometimes associated with subtle matters, with concepts that do not lie on the surface, which is why our exhibition turned out to be so translucent and multifaceted. Our goal was to detain a person, even if he accidentally entered the exhibition, to make him want to stop, read, peer, want to grasp the essence, because otherwise we would not be able to acquaint him with our projects.
The opening of the exhibition took place in the format of a noisy party: students, teachers, their friends, as well as students of other architecture universities and everyone who decided to join. Looking at the work of different studios of the Cass school, we were interested to understand what problems their projects tried to solve, in what context they existed. First of all, those projects in which one could feel the maximum personal interest of the author himself drew attention to themselves, for example, a board game was part of one work."
Ksenia Malkova, Master's student at MARSH:
“In July of this year, an exhibition of MARSH works was held at London Metropolitan University. I took part in the exhibition itself and in organizing and editing it in London. To say that I liked the exhibition is to say nothing. Firstly, in my opinion, for students of MARSH it is an additional motivation for developing themselves as a professional architect, in order to assess the level of Western design and development of thoughts and compare them with their own.
Secondly, to see firsthand London works and to communicate directly with their authors is a great and rewarding experience. It is a pity that such an opportunity is rarely given out so far.
I can say for sure that in the West they take a very responsible approach to the conduct of an architectural project, they pay great attention to both the analytical part and the design one. I am very glad that in Russia there is such a stronghold of this competent, serious approach as MARSH, where you can learn to think and create at the international level."
