Pioneering plans to turn an abandoned colliery into a sustainable community has earned international recognition for a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) Architecture MArch graduate.
Janusz Moore has been awarded a Commendation in the Silver Medal category of the 2021 President’s Medals, hosted annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to recognise the best Part 2 student projects around the world.
“It feels absolutely incredible to be recognised outside of a university setting, adding another achievement to my portfolio. I feel really driven to enter the RIBA Gold Medal awards next,” said 25-year-old Janusz from Oxfordshire.
Marking 185 years of RIBA awards, 2021 saw a record number of entries, with 338 nominations by 102 schools of architecture from across 31 counties.
With Chatterley Whitfield Colliery in Stoke-on-Trent as its anchor site, Janusz’s project, Ruincarnation, explores a new industrial identity for the UK’s ‘rust belt’, while celebrating its golden era of production.
He said: “I looked at what infrastructure you would need to turn a toxic wasteland into a habitable space over the course of 50 years, from phytoremediation planting to remove toxins from the ground to a biofuel factory to turn the toxins into fuel.
“I also explored planting trees which can be harvested at a manufacturing warehouse on site and turned into residential spaces. Then you start to see a habitable space for a community on site.”
Janusz has been working on a 3D model of his project for the past two months, which will be shipped to Dubai in January to be featured in DMU’s showcase at Expo 2020, a six-month event in which countries from around the world are sharing their best innovations.
“It’s been really nice going back at DMU to revisit this project on a large scale and to take it a step further,” he said.
“The university sponsored my project for Expo 2020, which means I get to use its cutting-edge facilities without having to worry about costs. It’s been a great opportunity,” he said.
Since graduating this year, Janusz has been working as a Part 2 Architectural Assistant at the Leicester branch of the award-winning Maber Associates.
He said: “It’s a fantastic company to work and they’ve even given me half a day off every week to work on my 3D model.
“The skills I developed at DMU definitely helped me to make an impression at the interview stage. Since securing the role, I’ve been thrown in the deep end with a big modelling project, but luckily it’s nothing that’s not already within my arsenal.”
With an Architecture BA (Hons) under his belt too, Janusz has studied at DMU for five years and is considering taking his Architectural Practice Postgraduate Diploma (Part 3) at the university too, once he completes his year in industry.
“I always knew I wanted to study something creative yet practical, so architecture was a great choice for me,” he said.
“Returning to DMU after my undergraduate degree was a big decision, but I chose to do so because the facilities in the Vijay Patel Building are outstanding and the teaching staff are really supportive.”
See more of Janusz’s work on Instagram or email him about it at januszmoore@hotmail.com.
Posted on Monday 13 December 2021