THE Queen's Anniversary Prize 2021

We are surrounded by hidden histories in our towns, our cities, and our landscapes. STRATA reveals those histories and within them the stories of people and communities, and how they have lived over decades, centuries, and millennia. Looking back at our ever-changing world gives us fresh perspectives from which we can imagine and anticipate our future.

Making full use of digital technologies, such as 3D laser scanning and geophysical surveys Strata digs deep into the layers of history found in our built environment. In The Lab you will learn about the life and times of the Lace Market, a thriving, ever-changing area in Nottingham City centre. And then travelling through space and time to 1840 BCE Egypt we will share the wonders of the Hawara Pyramid and its labyrinthine complex. Scans and surveys conducted over recent years have charted the original layout of this ancient archaeological site. They help us to understand why the complex was built and where the multitude of artefacts, now found in over 40 collections around the world, were originally placed.

Made using 3D digital scans of Nottingham Castle’s Art Gallery before the renovation, a new artistic commission by Bruce Asbestos presents both a creative throwback to the recent past and simultaneously a new virtual space. Asbestos considers the how evolving spaces become fixed as they are captured laser scanning technology and he encourages us to think about those spaces and how they will continue to evolve into our future. 

STRATA is based on the ongoing research at Nottingham Trent University’s Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage, led by Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem.