I studied in the &rchitecture atelier, which is based on community and monetary and non-monetary actions. With those values in mind, my final project focused on bringing the community together and encouraging creative expression. The site was located in Sheffield, which is considered a making/hand on industrial city.
After some research and demographic studies, I noticed that Sheffield has a good mix of different ethnicities and cultures that are not truly represented and visible to everyone. To deepen this aspect, I started thinking about discrimination in the workplace, especially for people of colour, as they are judged based on their appearance, hairstyles and even their name. This then made me to reflect on how architectural places may overcome invisibility. Stereotypes may hide talent, which is why, I wanted to create a project that not only provides a platform for these creatives but also allows them to gain awareness through their work, allowing creative people to not be looked down on and to be taken seriously in professional industries.
Due to these issues, I decided to combine the problem of creative visibility with low visibility of the underrepresented communities in Sheffield and create a space where people can be themselves through craft and making. The project, views creation as a business and empowerment tool! It resists the discrimination that many people of colour experience in the workplace by embracing creativity in identification through self-expression.
I designed a clay sculpting workshop space, for all the creative people of Sheffield to get together and learn more about the surrounding culture. Clay as a malleable material can be moulded into any story the sculptor wants to convey, allowing the different experiences that people go through to be embedded in the texture of the clay to then be shared among others. The way that I designed the building was on the focus of self-improvement. This building has 5 floors which represent what level you are on as you go on the journey of creating a creative business. The ground floor has more space to welcome a higher volume of beginners and as you go up into every floor, the more advanced and skilled you become, which ends up leading you to your own creative business at the top, allowing you to be visible to everyone through a glass exhibition space. The top floor shows the transition to professional independence, including areas for exhibitions and public involvement. The vertical paths represent self-improvement, skill development, and visibility, both metaphorically and, as users ascend to the rooftop.
This is significant because, anyone who is part of a creative career has gone through some type of judgement for choosing to go on that path, as it is deemed as irrelevant in the societal eye, so I wanted to bring attention to this issue and show the importance of creative careers in society. By doing this project and focusing on these problems it made me understand how important it is to design spaces that truly serve the community in a positive way and to bring people together, by conveying the message that artistic jobs are not only valid, but necessary for a more inclusive and culturally vibrant society.
You can see more of Jessica’s final year work on her MSA 2025 digital showcase profile.