UCL / Bartlett Alternative

Decolonising the curriculum.

I worked with The Bartlett’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion vice-dean on building a living archive where staff and students from every background can share their work across the community.

The challenge.

The Bartlett’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion vice-dean wanted to diversify the curriculum and make research more accessible. The purpose of the hub was to promote a truly inclusive built environment by amplifying underrepresented voices. I developed a strategy for collecting diverse material so that staff and students across the school could share their research and offer new perspectives and alternative narratives. I also led on the communications strategy for the project and delivered the internal launch plan.

The impact.

Through Bartlett Alternative, we created a repository for researchers from all backgrounds to share their knowledge, experience and resources with the community. The constantly growing database challenges conventions and traditions and diversifies knowledge production by amplifying marginalised narratives, especially those that look beyond colonial ideas of the built environment. The result is a more inclusive collaborative space for present and future staff and students.   

Laptop screen displaying a website for Bartlett Alternative, with a woman speaking into a megaphone on a city street, and text about opening up the built environment.

Check out full site at bartlettalternative.com. Brand identity and development: Shift Design.

A person holding a smartphone displaying the Bartlett Alternative website, with a yellow header and a photo of a woman with a megaphone in an urban street setting.

Ensuring the content was available in a mobile friendly way was a key requirement for this project.

Laptop displaying a website with a red header section titled 'Laboratory', featuring navigation buttons labeled 'Laboratory', 'Library', and 'View All', and some thumbnail images below.

The two key areas of the site, Laboratory and Library, were given their own colour identities to help with a visual cue as to what types of content is being consumed.

Laptop screen displaying a webpage for Bartlett Alternative with images and text including a woman in a yellow sari, a blue abstract glass artwork, and black and white architectural models.
Laptop screen showing a webpage for the Bartlett library with a purple background, white text, and navigation buttons labeled Laboratory, Library, and View All.
Laptop screen displaying a webpage with black and white photo of two people, text about a 1978 film "Blacks Britannica" by Maxwell Mutanda, and a colorful abstract artwork with the words "JAY BERNARD" and "SURGE".

Check out full site at bartlettalternative.com

“Studio Dhesi was instrumental in supporting us in the delivery of Bartlett Alternative. Their ability to bring together expertise to work creatively and collaboratively allowed the project to move beyond initial expectations. Manpreet was immensely professional and was a pleasure to work with. The project simply would not be possible without this incredibly talented group.”

– Sara Shafiei, Vice-Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The Bartlett, UCL

The two key areas of the site, Laboratory and Library, were given their own colour identities to help with a visual cue to help inform what types of content is being consumed.

UCL / Disruptive Thinkers
Camden Council