mardi 29 mars 2011
Social Space (5)
Critical Reading about Mary Morris Accomodation
I do not know a lot about social spaces in Leeds, so I will analyse a place I do know well : the international accommodation called Mary Morris, situated in Headingley. The place is built to house more than 200 international students, offering quality places for very affordable prices due to its non-profit status. The location is of interest to every student at Leeds Met, the neighbourhood pleasant and the living conditions quite comfortable. The idea of offering flats to share with people from hundreds of different cultures, having more or less the same age and being in the same situation of discovering a new country together is a brilliant one. With competitive prices, a building, which has been recently renovated and is by and large appreciated by students, makes the residence a very good place to live.
The unexpected problem is that the accommodation will close in a few years, due to money problems. In fact, the accommodation is now only almost half-full and struggles to find new tenants.
Several obvious explanations can be found for this. Firstly, the organisation does not advertise itself enough. Leeds is a city full of students, and consequently full of student accommodation. Finding a place to stay is easy so people do not search further. The other major reason which might explain it, and even more so in the future, is the price of tuition fees. If England becomes one of the most expensive places in which study, the number of international students will seriously decrease. Moreover, international students from outside Europe have sometimes to pay three times more than British students, which makes the situation even more difficult. The lack of students in the halls of residence will make it too empty to ‘survive’; the only solution will be to close.
As seen in Lefebvre’s trial, the representation of this Space was well-organised and appropriate to the needs of its users. The location, the buildings and the planning of the interior are very practical, suitable for student and community life. Its representational space, from the original concept of welcoming international students and the ideal of making these cultures live together is an inspirational idea. The practice used to work very well, but in the current recession, compounded by the lack of advertising, both of which are financial issues, have led to the downfall of this project.
¶ 14:21
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