Infinite Possibilities – A Social Condenser for the 21st Century Part 2 Project 2020 David Norman University of Kent | UK Infinite PossibilitiesNamed in his honour, the Douglas Adams Centre is a 21st Century ‘social condenser.’Designed to offer residencies to displaced community projects throughout Holloway, the Centre also brings everyone from artists to research scientists under its roof. The resulting eclectic social mix benefits from the countless ‘collision zones’ throughout the site: nodes that facilitate the incidental meeting of different people types and the cross-pollination of ideas.The architectural language is derived from the site’s original derelict Victorian building, whose formalised front arched elevation offered only hints of the incidental rear elevation, greatly altered with the building’s many uses over time.This tension between ‘regiment and relax’ resonates with the intriguing and contradictory wit of many of Adam’s characters, whilst the countless nooks and unexpected moments of visual connection across the building embody his ‘anything could happen’ sense of literary playfulness. The ground floor, with its bustling market space, emphasises permeability and social connection whilst the heavy exterior ‘bookend’ wall shields the site from the noise and intensity of Holloway Road.Whether providing opportunities to learn, connect or rehabilitate, this is a building which, like Adam’s ‘infinite improbability drive,’ can spark a change of circumstances in an instant. David Norman Tutor(s)