Charissa Turner



charissalt98@gmail.com
@charissaluciaturner

Charissa is a recent graduate from MA Architecture at the Royal College of Art where she explored socio-environmental conditions that shape livelihoods. 

During her first year, she studied under the film-led research studio Locument to produce a combined proposal and film which investigated the impacts of algae blooms in the Baltic Sea. The proposal was situated on the island of Gotland in Sweden and brought together a collection of active spaces, 'fluid follies', as a way to re-establish lost rituals on the island stripped away by the domineering algae blooms in the Baltic Sea. In second year, she was taught under the Turner Prize-nominated studio Cooking Sections, who produce site-responsive, research-driven installation projects. She investigated multi-dimensional environmental conditions to propose an adaptive tile-based framework to surround existing buildings in Murcia, Spain, protecting them from future dust storms. Engaging with atmospheres and material properties, she was able to design a structure composed of specifically shaped tiles that induce turbulence within the particulate clouds, protecting homes and livelihoods to live with the dust.




Selected Work


Dust to eat, dust to drink, dust to breathe
Royal College of Art
2024 - 2025 This project is set in a near future scenario of frequent dust storms in the region of Murcia in Spain. It proposes a physical and active framework composed of specifically shaped tiles which induce turbulence within the particulate clouds, protecting homes and livelihoods in order to live with the dust. 




The Seven Rituals of a Glimmering Sea
Royal College of Art
2023 - 2024 This proposal brings together a collection of active spaces, fluid follies, as a way to re-establish lost rituals on the island of Gotland in Sweden, taken away by domineering algae blooms in the Baltic Sea.



Emerging Ecologies
Royal College of Art
2023
The film centres itself around 3 more-than- human bodies that thrive in toxic environments. The common reed, Blue-green algae and specific species of Lichen all share the ability to adapt swiftly to shifting conditions. As humans, we commonly refer to them as ‘invasive’ characters, though through our anthropogenic acts we encourage these creatures to emerge and proliferate, accelerated by eutrophication.




80 Plots
University for the Creative Arts
2021
During the construction of the Olympic Park, lying east of Fish Island, a significantly popular Manor Gardens Allotments were destroyed. This once offered 80 plots that provided food for over 150 families. It was a treasured area that aided in forming the close-knit community. A place of unity and liminality for all people. A community was formed simply through a common interest: a love of the land.




Seed Station
Royal College of Art
2025
As part of our Live Project module in fifth year, we were asked by an agro-environmental initiative in Puglia called X-Farm to design and construct a ‘seed station’ to collect and save peasant seeds. X-Farm Agricoltura Prossima is an initiative which was born from the recovery of confiscated land from organised crime.




The Outpost
University for the Creative Arts
2021
Placed on the old railway tracks within the Hambrook Marshes in Canterbury, the sole purpose of the ‘Outpost’ is to analyse and record the weather in place of digital and satellite methods; or make an attempt to. A visible warning will then be broadcast to alert passer-by’s of impending storms. 




Earth Construction Workshop
Mark Richard’s Travel Bursary
2023
 I was awarded a travel bursary by my university to take part in an earth construction workshop in Ouled Merzouk in Morocco, a primarily earth-based village. Hosted by the local women’s association, this workshop consisted of earth testing and component combinations using locally sourced materials.




Spatial Research Residency
LT Ranch, Lithuania
2020 - 2022
 Throughout the three annual sessions, I was guided by the exploration of the sonic environment, focusing on the methods of communication, knowledge-sharing and co-respondances through the medium of birdsong.




The Home
University for the Creative Arts
2020
 An alternative collection of co-living homes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This collection of dwellings aims to reintroduce the rhythms and active patterns back into life. Interwoven is a questioning of space and structure to encourage subtle co-existence.
Observatory for the Blind and Visually Impaired
University for the Creative Arts
2020
By using the principles of synaesthesia, an alternative experience of our solar system’s planets is fabricated. Through research into sound and colour, the proposal offers blind and visually impaired people to experience our solar systems’ planets through human senses other than sight.