Students of the Slade School of Fine Art are mount- ing a campaign to defend their department’s location in the North Wing of UCL’s main quadrangle after documents emerged suggesting that it could be moved to accommodate ‘more public facing activities’.
The findings are taken from the Space Utilisation Sur- vey (SUS), a report carried out last summer for UCL Estates and Facilities Division, which aims to help UCL maximise efficient use of its properties.
The report recom- mends significant changes to many of UCL’s current opera- tions. Its findings show that the university currently has 14.8m² of space for every full time student compared to an average of 7.8m² across the higher education sector.
Slade students refute the idea that their department does not merit a prominent posi- tion in the Quad. Aaron An- gell, a student involved in the campaign, commented: ‘the most important event in our calendar is the annual degree show season, a series of events which demand a prominent lo- cation and good public access, not just for us but also for the Bartlett who also use the build- ing for their degree shows.
‘It sounds like UCL man- agement want to ship us off to some fucking warehouse somewhere so they can fo- cus on their pathetic, fawn- ing corporate image instead of anything genuinely pro- gressive and interesting.’
The SUS notes that both the North and South Wings are ‘currently occupied by groups that might be better accom- modated elsewhere ... reloca- tion of these groups and reuse of the buildings for functions needing the prominence of the location and availability for public access, would be a logical option in the future.’
According to the report, moving the Slade would allow art students the ‘space for ex- perimentation, creativity and associated mess of an art stu- dio’. However, the focus upon the prestigious Main Quad- rangle position has led many to suggest that UCL management’s plan to relocate the Slade stems from it prioritising more lu- crative corporate facilities that could be housed there over the university’s art department.
Other parts of the SUS suggest that any relocation would result in a significant re- duction in space. Earlier in the report the Slade is highlighted as having ‘more than twice [the amount of space] what is al- lowed for in the norms (sic.)’.
Students began campaign- ing against the SUS sugges- tions recently when posters were put up around the Slade announcing: ‘we cannot let the barbarians win. We must fight for our school, and fight for our art.’ How long they will be able to hold onto their prime location now that Man- agement has a whiff of cor- porate pie is anyone’s guess.