Samuel Kumar

A subterranean rocky space with lit via a single shaft of light leading from the surface, centred above a baroque sculpture

Samuel Kumar is British multidisciplinary designer and aspiring Architect, who began his architectural education at Liverpool John Moores University, graduating in 2020 with a 1st class degree and nominations for the RIBA Presidents Medal and AJ student Award.

After a year in practice and independently competing in architectural competitions, Samuel joined the Royal College of Art in 2021, joining ADS 12 in the exploration of the notion of 'take-away'. During his 1st year at the RCA, Samuel investigated the notion of borders and the intrinsic link to saffron farming in the Kashmir region of India & Pakistan - a project which was shortlisted for the RIBA London Award 2022.

This year in ADS 9, Samuel's thesis project has revolved around an obsession that has persisted throughout the entirety of his architectural education: Portland stone. His final project at the RCA: 'Unloved' attempts to interrogate the current practice of the extraction of Portland Stone, and question the unloved materials and spaces left dormant after extraction has ceased. Fusing industrial, economic, and artisanal space, the project proposes an evolution of the stone mine, creating spaces of publicness in and amongst the raw and the refined, the loved and the unloved.

A photograph of the Isle of Portland, with cut stone blocks surrounding houses

The Isle of Portland is the home of a significant commodity found on nearly every street in central London - a stone which because of its connotations of Britishness and civility, has been valued and exported around the world - thus its extraordinary cultural and monetary value. Yet as one walks around the Isle of Portland, they become familiar with sizeable mounds of rock and stone cast aside due to discoloration, size, grain, or marks present on the surface of the stone. This material is officially designated as being 'unloved', with all monetary value now void. This reflects the wider context of Portland stone extraction, with open top quarries now dormant and unloved as extraction moves exclusively to subterranean mines. The Isle of Portland becomes an economic playground of juxtaposed elements, where a singular material is both a significant commodity and a valueless waste product. Where land has both extreme commercial value and an absence of purpose or use.

Unloved is an evolution of the stone mine: a space of publicness where extraction and inhabitation are symbiotic and cyclical; where carvings, ornament, tectonics and art come together to form a singular, ambiguous, blurred, and open architecture. Art and architecture are one and the same - without the duty of art having purpose or distinction. Here the convention of mining is reconsidered, as stone is cut in a manner to create beautiful space and ‘unloved’ stone deemed to be without value is reconstituted to form elements of an architecture of openness, amidst the economic context of assigned value. As extraction descends into the varying strata workshops and artisanal space follow, providing spaces of sculptors, artists and architects to work directly with an otherwise inaccessible material before value is assigned, facilitating new material advancements and innovation.

Unloved and non-viable stones piled at the edge of the quarry, its monetary value now void

A stone designated as unloved, due to sitting between strata and featuring a variation in minerals

Unloved stones bare the memories of their extraction

Unloved stones bare the memories of their extraction increasing the processes required to refine them, diminishing their value

Elevation of the cliff face on the West coast of the Isle of Portland. The varying strata can be identified, separating the basebed, whitbed, and roach layers of Portland stone from sandstone at sea level, and top soil at the surface

An unloved stone detail at a refined state, used for the assembly of platforms

An unloved stone detail in a raw and untouched state, used for the assembly of platforms

Experimentation with a key principle of the project: extraction as construction. What is the quality of spaces created through taking away only?

Experimentation with a key principle of the project: extraction as construction. What is the relationship between viable & rigorous spaces vs unloved and organic spaces?

Stone is extracted with intent to produce a commodity, and so a standard unit size of a 1m high by 1m wide, by 2m long is cut and removed. Subsequently, the walls, columns and surfaces present throughout the chamber bare the relief of this method of taking away, as extraction moves vertically from the surface through the varying layers of stone and strata. These surfaces and blocks remain marked from the diamond cables used to cut the stone, creating a tactile waved effect across the chamber.

As the excavators descend vertically, layers of alternating strata are encountered, often with the “wrong” or undesired minerals, textures, and colours. These moments, marked in red, identify areas with this non-viable Portland stone which are subject to excavation - creating the valueless unloved stone, and voids in there place.

Unwrapped interior elevation of one of the proposed chambers

Unwrapped interior elevation of one of the proposed chambers. A continuously descending ramp allows one to enter and move through the varying layers and strata of stone, moving from spaces of light to dark

Unwrapped interior elevation of one of the proposed chambers. Spaces where the strata features too many minerals are excavated, creating unloved voids within the chamber for artisans to occupy.

Samuel Kumar

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Royal College of Art