Name: Zihan Xu
Track: Architecture
Studio: Architectural Design Crossovers
Year: MSc1 2023 / 2024
Type: Design Project
Tutor: Oliver Ebben
Description:
Located at Conveys Wharf, one of the last remaining undeveloped sites along the Thames, this project challenges the conventional model of urban renewal, resisting the rise of yet another homogeneous skyline. Instead of following the high-rise trajectory of Canary Wharf, this intervention proposes an alternative vision: one where the memory of the city is preserved through its material remains, and where public space becomes an active site of engagement with history. The Skins of London is an evolving archive that documents and reinterprets the surplus materials generated from London’s continuous cycle of urban renovation. More than a mere collection of discarded fragments, this project transforms the act of archiving into an immersive spatial experience. It is not housed within a building—the building itself is the archive.