The New Campus
Video, duration 6 mins 20 secs
Narrated by Elinor Coleman
The New Campus is a video essay, exploring the construction of the Royal College of Art’s new Battersea South campus from a student’s perspective in lockdown, during a time of great change and uncertainty. The footage starts from the bottom of the building, and gradually ascends the different floors, taking into account the sounds and textures of the site. Over the top, the narrator draws links between the labour of the workers, the students who are absent, and the goals of the institution, as they try to grapple with the question of who the new campus is being ultimately being built for.
The New Campus has been included in the RCA Future Archive Project︎︎︎ following the transformation of the RCA Battersea South Campus from construction site to inhabited art and design school, led by Rut Blees Luxemburg.
It was first shown as part of the RCA Online Degree Show 2021 and will be shown at RIBA in an upcoming exhibition in June 2021, which will coincide with the launch of the Future Archive publication.