The Chronicle, No. 669, January 2016

3 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

A Different Angle

Sixth Former Anna Glik talks about her Extended Project Qualification: “I’m planning to study Architecture at university so I chose an architectural topic for my EPQ. Initially, I thought about writing an essay on Zaha Hadid, whose work fascinates me: she uses complex curves and irregular geometries to create extraordinarily daring buildings - which are not always appreciated. During my research, I came across an article in the Guardian by Michele Hanson who reported that Hadid’s design for the National Stadium of Tokyo – now abandoned – had been described as a hairdryer, a spacecraft, a footbath, a stranded turtle – and a child’s potty. I was incredibly lucky to be able to see one of Hadid’s buildings under construction just down the road – the new Investcorp Building at St Antony’s College in Oxford, which was completed last year. I also visited a major exhibition of her work at the Hermitage in St Petersburg. The more I looked at her work, the more I felt compelled to design something of my own rather than just write an essay. I took a course in the computer programme ArchiCAD during the summer holiday and then started to experiment. Inspired by Hadid’s curves, I initially wanted to design a building specifically for one of our oval Harkness classroom tables, but one day found myself unable to practise ballet because the Dance Studio was in use. I immediately thought about designing a dedicated Ballet Studio for St Edward’s. I interviewed our Head of Dance, Lisa Elkins, about the discipline’s specific requirements. Ballet dancers rely on mirrors so although my first design featured only curved walls, I had to modify it to allow for a large flat area. Lisa also explained that the atmosphere is very important for ballet dancers. The curved walls make the building more organic and light, and the simplicity of the interior allows the dancers to focus on their performance without being distracted. In my

building, natural light pours through round windows in the ceiling, avoiding mirror-glare from wall-mounted artificial lighting. In ArchiCAD, many architectural elements are available within the programme, and can be added to a building design, but my skills were challenged by the need for a curved bench and barre which I had to design from scratch. My design is now complete, and if I ever had the chance to have it constructed, I would position it in the Cooper Quad.” Anna, who was previously at

Moscow Economic School, is taking A Levels in Maths, Art and French, and hopes to study

Architecture at University College London or Bath.