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Summer Show 2026
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Aquonica: A Hydric Landscape for the Post Comfort Era

Project details

Programme
Studio 2C
Year 2

Set 100 years in the future, Aquonica emerges within the flooded landscape of Leyton Marsh, where rising water levels have displaced canal boat dwellers from the bankside environments they once occupied. Drawing from the principles explored in Andrea Branzi's Agronica, the project reimagines habitation, production, and civic life within a permanently altered floodplain. Rather than resisting inundation, Aquonica works with it. Floodwater is collected, filtered, and recirculated through the building, supporting hydroponic food production while making environmental processes visible and productive. Space is organised through gradients of exposure, shelter, and interaction with water. Open communal spaces frame expansive views across the marshlands, preserving access to openness and horizon within an increasingly dense London. Replacing the social role of the lost bankside landscape, Aquonica provides a new civic anchor for life on the water. The project rethinks the politics of comfort and protection, proposing architecture not as a barrier to environmental change, but as infrastructure embedded within it.

Students

An interior view which sees hydroponic shelving and plants growing under ultraviolet light.

Hydroponic Growing Chamber

An interior view which sees hydroponic shelving and plants growing under ultraviolet light.

A cut through the busiest part of our building which sees the hydroponics and laboratories.

First Floor Plan and Section at 1:200

A cut through the busiest part of our building which sees the hydroponics and laboratories.

This outlines the levels of the building in situ on Leyton Marsh. The grid is reminiscent of Superstudio drawings, a large influence for the project

Exploded oblique projection at 1:1000

This outlines the levels of the building in situ on Leyton Marsh. The grid is reminiscent of Superstudio drawings, a large influence for the project

The left image shows the seed storage chamber and water pipes. The right image shows views from inside the laboratory

Close-up Images

The left image shows the seed storage chamber and water pipes. The right image shows views from inside the laboratory

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The Bartlett
Summer Show 2026
25 June – 12 July
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