Unit J: Experimenting Error

This year Unit J has considered the value of exactness over error, and questioned the Architects long time intolerance with imprecision.

At a time where Architects design digitally to six-decimal places when in reality this level of precision can rarely be achieved, this year Unit J has looked to a variety of disciplines and asked ourselves whether exactness should always be the aspiration. We have carried out and studied objective mapping and surveying techniques such as architectural surveying, tidal chart plotting, celestial navigation and LiDAR scanning alongside more subjective exploration of space through artists such as Matthew Barney and Do Ho Suh. Unit J students were asked to consider the value in both approaches and aimed to inhabit the space between the two as fertile ground for exploration. In response to this, we have studied making and fabrication techniques to further our understanding of the relationship between intent and outcome, and have considered the role of materials in the search for precision, questioning whether ‘devious’ timber may have something to offer over ‘reliable’ steel.

In Unit J we embrace the unknown, encourage the bespoke, and welcome the personal. The work of unit J is both experimental and rigorous, producing inventive architectural proposals which deal with issues of corporeal diversity in intelligent and creative ways.