“The whole idea is for students to design their own version of the CSM Museum,” explains Gabriel Birch, Curriculum Leader for 3 Dimensional Design and Architecture. The project culminates in an exhibition, is a collaboration with the CSM Museum & Study Collection and Curriculum Development Curator Sarah Campbell.
Each year, Birch and Campbell select a different group of museum objects for students to respond to in their project brief. “If you're in an institution, you need to feel like you have the agency to impact it,” Birch says.
CSM Stories spoke with students Irma Sandstrom Bates, Davd Ghale, Marharyta Tsiatserskaya and Zhuoyun Li about their experience and visual cues of the design process.
The project is rooted in Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia. “It is quite a tricky theme because Foucault brings a political focus to understanding and describing space, highlighting the threshold between public and private realms,” Birch explains.
Each year, the project explores the theme through a specific lens. This year focused on health and care, identity, social justice, climate emergency, and storytelling.
“At first, it was quite confusing because the concept includes many different philosophies, each with its own aspects and characteristics,” recalls student Davd Ghale. “But then I decided to delve deeper into petratopia, which explores creating an escape from the challenges people face in the world.”
For student Marharyta Tsiatserskaya, the final outcome was completely different from what she had initially envisioned. “I've learned to accept that because previously I found myself clinging onto whatever I came up with first,” she says.
Initially, Tsiatserskaya planned to explore the origins of dinner etiquette rules. However, her focus shifted to creating a rage room as a political, anti-war statement. “It was completely unrelated, but somehow, it worked,” she reflects.
The project begins with a visit to the museum, where students are introduced to the brief and asked to develop their own interpretation of heterotopia. “Students select an object, make a simple drawing, or engage with it on a material level,” explains Birch. “Then, they create a diorama, which is a very quick 2D to 3D model.”
Students then develop a threshold model to consider how people will interact with their spatial design. This model explores how visitors might enter the space, how movement might be controlled, and how different areas are divided.
Finally, students produce a final model and a series of collages and technical drawings to explain their proposal. “Sometimes the project moves away from focusing on one particular object, but ideally, the object is still there and present in either the concept of the design or is being displayed within the design that's proposed” Birch adds.
Having the CSM Museum & Study Collection as a client encourages students to consider how public engagement shapes the space around their selected objects. Additionally, Campbell shares that playing the role of the client is a fun part of the process. “As part of this, we also take students through the museum stores — something we don’t do for everyone. It’s important to build trust with our foundation students and make them feel welcome within the institution,” she says.
The museum houses a diverse collection of objects, many of which are intentionally challenging and complex to engage with. However, this also gives students rich narratives and multiple angles to explore.
“When selecting objects, we look for pieces that don’t fit neatly into distinct categories — objects that blur definitions and encourage students to think outside the box,” Campbell explains. She hopes that the dialogue between students and the museum will be a valuable experience when they work with clients in the future.
For Ghale, experiencing a client-like project early in his career was challenging and rewarding. “The object I was given had no personal connection to me at first, but that actually made it more interesting — I had to get past my initial thoughts,” he recalls. “It also led to a better understanding of my own project when explaining it to others so they could get a better interpretation of what I am trying to do and create,” Ghale says.
For Tsiatserskaya, the project was a chance to design a space driven by metaphor rather than function. “I used to only think about how to use a space efficiently or maximise community engagement, but this was an opportunity to explore what I can say about like the world we live in with the art that I'm making,” she concludes.
Campbell highlights that incorporating diverse voices into the curriculum through this project is an essential part of decolonising education. “It helps students realise they have agency — not just within the college, but in the university as a whole,” Birch adds.
Completing a foundation year before entering an architecture or spatial design course opens up many interdisciplinary opportunities. “We’re not just focusing on the work of architects but also engaging with the broader art and design culture,” Birch explains, in hopes that this approach will help students build new networks and discover deeper layers within their practice.