Maciej Batkiewicz

I am an architecture student, graduating from Coventry University, that is very passionate about the subject. My main interest in the field of architecture is the relationship between memory and architecture. I explored this topic in both my 2nd-year essay ("Localizing Critical Regionalism: Churches of the Podhale Region") and final year dissertation ("Locus Suspectus. Reconstruction, Holocaust & Memory") that aimed to investigate the role of architecture in the process of suppressing non-national memory. 

My final project locates in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. This area formerly played a prominent role in the production of jewellery as well as writing instruments. Hence, my building is the Museum of Writing with an adjacent community college (that follows the Dutch idea of life-long education), creative pop-up retail space and restaurant. The edifice placed on the slope makes use of the view of Birmingham City Centre, thanks to its cascade structure and terraces. The facades consist of bricks, terracotta hollow slabs and glass. Hence they derive from the original context, while retaining a contemporary form.