An Auction House for the 21st Century
Once a year, visitors to Roca's London Gallery are treated to an unsual sight.The clean lines and flowing geometries of the Zaha Hadid-designed showroom are abruptly broken by unruly piles of paper, cutting mats, and assorted model-making materials. Scattered on all available surfaces, pens roll along the smooth curves of the injection-moulded countertops and shelving. At the centre of each pile of materials is a small group of students, huddled together, lying down, or draped across all manner of high-end sanitaryware.
Visitors could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled across a futuristic performance artwork, but the occasion was, in fact, the 24th annual AIA UK charette. A frantic and fun event, this year's charrette was once again generously sponsored by Roca and Laufen, who not only provided the gallery space but also enough carbohydrates and coffee for the 42 hungry students attending, and, equally importantly, the winners prizes.
This year's edition of the charette saw six teams drawn from Westminster, UCA, Portsmouth, Kingston, Ravensbourne, and Kent universities, competing for the coveted winners goody bags. The students spent the day drawing, modelling, cutting and pasting to prepare their designs in response to this year's brief: the design of a 21st century auction house.