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Akhil Bakhda
Inter 12

This year involved emphasising the idea of copying as an intuitive yet conscious aspect of the design process. Thematically, I found myself exploring ideas pertaining the possibility of an explicit military aesthetic in architectural form and decoration. This took me on journeys from altering the loaded meaning of a handgun by subverting its materiality and interior space, to understanding the role and potential of Trafalgar Square as a re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar. Eventually my project culminated in a proposal for a new Admiralty Arch. The existing Admiralty Arch in London is an eccentric ceremonial gateway connecting the crown (Buckingham Palace) to the state (Parliament) via Trafalgar Square, a place famous historically for numerous acts of public dissent. The proposal involved  exploring a new explicit military aesthetic designed to provoke a sense of war by copying historically and contextually relevant military artefacts (Lord Nelson's HMS Victory as part of the form of the building for example) and understanding the social consequences of such design decisions. In addition, the proposal addressed the conflicting roles of multiple programs in such an unusual building, where cabinet office buildings, a homeless shelter and a Kubrickian War Room coexist harmoniously. Below is a sample of some of the work and research completed in this project.