UK students present their vision of Gib in post-Brexit era

Birmingham City architecture students yesterday unveiled their projects imagining Gibraltar in a post-Brexit era at the Garrison Library.
The four students were given a brief to create structures on canvas visualising how the Rock would look in the years to come.
The students John Fisher, Dhanesh Lakha, Navdeep Bilkhu, Mary Cooke-Fox arrived in Gibraltar for a quick visit yesterday with enough time to open their exhibition.
The exhibition at the Garrison Library features various works conceptualising future local buildings such as an idea of the ‘Ministry of Convergence’.
Initially the group visited Gibraltar last October to gather information about the Rock for their project. Since then the master students who have just completed the second year of their course have worked towards this final exhibition.
As part of their course the students were each given briefs on different European countries, with other groups travelling to Paris and Italy.
For Gibraltar the students were briefed to specifically look at how Gibraltar would look like post-Brexit despite the majority of the population voting to remain in the EU.
Mr Fisher focused his work in Gibraltar becoming a micro-state within Europe having achieved the possibility of self-determination.
“I looked at Gibraltar’s emancipation and becoming its own micro-state where it is able to self-determine,” he said.
Similarly Mr Lakha looked at de-colonisation and Gibraltar becoming its own sovereign country.
“There is a lot of colonial architecture and how Gibraltar is able to compose new architecture, a new language and how that can facilitate decolonisation politically,” he said.
Ms Bilku angled her work towards the frontier and the contested national borders.
“I was looking at Gibraltar as a gateway between Spain and Africa, and what does that mean for its future in terms of Brexit, especially with the historical border conditions imposed by Spain for 16 years,” she said.
“It is important that Gibraltar stands for itself in the future after Brexit.”
Ms Cooke-Fox looked at Gibraltar in regards to local identity. She studied how Gibraltar’s cultural identity would be kept strong despite Brexit.
The exhibition is open to the public at the Garrison Library.