ADS2: NEW POLITICS, NEW URBANISM

Sheikh, Rattle and Roll

My project exposes the fantastical conceit of Prince Charles’s desire to create a traditional village on the Chelsea Barracks site, when most people acknowledge that only a handful of English people were ever likely to buy there. Instead, my proposal repackages the site for its new super-rich inhabitants from the United Arab Emirates. Three high-end residential towers triangulate a landscape of sporting amusements – inspired by the site’s previous use as a pleasure garden – which sits atop a luxury retail plinth. The architectural language explores the gap between notions of discreet wealth favoured by the British aristocracy and the more flashy opulence of their invading nouveau counterparts.