Found States by Sanjana Narayanan is a BA architecture thesis about Stratford, civic identity and the public life of a changing town centre.
The project works because it looks at civic architecture as a social condition, not only as a building type. It asks how public spaces can hold memory, movement and everyday exchange.
Project gallery
The project image gives the article a visual centre, showing the civic and public-space ambition behind Sanjana’s thesis.
Project overview
Sanjana developed the project as a Part I graduate from Central Saint Martins, using Stratford Town Centre as the setting for a wider question about civic life.
The original article describes Found States: The Poises of Stratford’s Civic Heart as a project rooted in observation, public interaction and the potential of overlooked civic fragments.
The design idea
The civic heart is not just a formal centre. In this project, it becomes a way to read how people gather, pass through, wait, exchange and recognise a place as theirs.
- Stratford becomes the urban subject, not just the site.
- Postal and civic programmes support everyday public interaction.
- Community space is treated as infrastructure.
- The project uses architectural imagination to test how public identity can be rebuilt.
Portfolio lesson
A civic architecture thesis needs a clear social argument. The reader should understand who the project is for, what public behaviour it supports and why the chosen programme matters.
Showcase your own civic project
Architecture Social can showcase civic and student work when the project makes the public idea easy to see and understand.
- Explain the place and the public problem first.
- Show how people use the project.
- Connect drawings to civic life, not only form.
- Make the thesis legible to someone outside your studio.
Common mistakes
- Starting with theory before the reader understands the place.
- Using civic language without showing public use.
- Letting biography bury the project.
- Showing atmospheric images without explaining the social purpose.
Architecture Social view
Stephen’s recruiter view is that civic projects are strongest when they show empathy and clarity. If a reader can understand the public problem quickly, the design work has a better chance of being remembered.
Next step
Explore more Architecture Social projects, use the portfolio guide to sharpen your thesis narrative, or submit your own student project.
If this project has made you rethink your own portfolio or next move, browse current architecture jobs or contact Architecture Social for a recruiter’s view.
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