Post Pandemic Potentials - International Studio Lancaster

This project is about the river Lune and everything around it, in a time where people come out of hiding to rediscover new freedoms.

The notion of remote working started to evolve in a very unexpected way, ignited by the phenomenon of global isolation, during times of the pandemic. We learned quickly for which part of our life we needed to travel, commute and communicate in person and for which not. As a result, we started to understand and revaluate physicality and distances anew.

After being in isolation for so long we experienced urbanity, family, commuting, nature, the so-called countryside etc. with new eyes, forcing us to reassess fundamental needs and desires of our lives. While our compassion for being at home, working, shopping or consuming started to change, the physical world around us stayed the same. This realization should encourage us to rethink future architectural interventions and latent urban developments, not to mention the looming ecological emergency awaiting to happen.

All this is certainly also true for the United Kingdom. While being disconnected from the European Union, the country is trying to reinvent itself. At the same time, continues strikes of public transport, teachers and the health system, are pointing at a lack of investment in the public sector. As a result of all this, alternative lifestyles to a centralized urbanity are starting to emerge.

Lancaster, our object of desire, is conveniently located between the sea front and the Lake District. One is in the middle of nature in under an hour and at the seaside within 15 minutes. Furthermore, it is 50 minutes to Manchester and around 2 hours to London. The city has everything, a Picture Book City would need: a castle, an inner city that is a national heritage, a well-recognized University, a river and seemingly fast internet.

On aspect though, that seems to be overlooked and under developed is its relationship to the river Lune, with its beautiful landscape sighting an impressive variety of species and edge-conditions. In addition, the city is desperately in need, like so many places alike, of more affordable housing.

We would like to invite you to investigate the potentials of the city Lancaster, by trying to connect and re/combine newly gained experiences and lifestyles with an existing, highly inspiring city infrastructure, to flush out new visions of a post pandemic potentials.