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Student Showcase 2024 Student Spotlight: Ruben Lincoln

Student Spotlight featuring BArch (Hons) Architecture, Ruben Lincoln and his project, 'A Voice Through Music'.

    Render of the plans for a musical building

    A Voice Through Music by Ruben Lincoln

    The Project

    The Edward III Music Centre is a multi-functional civic space that aims to bring together the community, re-engage the castle quarter of Nottingham with the rest of the city, and challenge the hierarchy present on the site.

    Flanked on either side by Nottingham Castle and St. Nics Church, two buildings with a powerful presence on the site and throughout history, the Music Centre aims to capture these opposing powers through the central spine. This spine divides the center in half, creating a constant visual link between the two buildings, with their presence looming over at all times. The central spine increases in height as it moves towards the castle, rising up to the castle wall and challenging its topographical hierarchy.

    Off the central spine are the main spaces of the center, hosting practice rooms, a music library, workshop, music shop, bar, and performance hall. The workshop is a space for building and repairing saxophones, which can be used within the center itself for people to learn and enhance their musical prowess.

    The Center hopes to be a place for everyone, regardless of race, gender, age, etc., and aims to give anyone a voice through music.

    New music building with cutouts of people walking in front of it

    The inspiration behind the project

    Inspiration for this project came from close to Ruben's heart. Music has always been an important part of his life and he loves its ability to break the boundaries of expression creating emotions in people that couldn’t be found through words or actions. Ruben also has found a lot of inspiration through his dad and his jazz band which never fails to get even the most unlikely people up and dancing.

    All of this culminated in the idea to pursue music in this project and he thinks having this strong connection to his project has allowed it to be realised in a way he is proud of.

    Performance on a stage with cutouts of people dancing and singing while they are watching

    Being a part of NTU

    Doing architecture at NTU has allowed Ruben to truly express himself through his work. It has been a great environment to learn new skill but to also learn about himself and find out what he am passionate about.

    The course has strengthened Ruben's love for architecture and allowed him to think about the world around him in a whole new light. Architecture isn’t just about the pretty visuals and technical drawings, it about a community of people who can come together to produce experiences that will have a lasting impact on people.

    Hallway inside a building with cutouts of people walking and playing instruments

    Closing Remarks

    Architecture is a challenging degree but also a very rewarding one. Seeing a small idea from your head turn into a building you can be proud of is one of the best feeling in the world and makes it all worth its while.

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