THE BUILD: DAY 03

The Build from day 03.  Over half way and still lots to do!

THE BUILD: DAYS 01-02

Some pictures from our first two days:

CLUNY SUMMER PAVILION

This summer on the 12th of August, Cluny Summer Pavilion will form the centre of a suburban community in Southend-on-Sea, signalling the conclusion of our two-year process of engagement by this initiative. Transforming the central green space of Cluny estate, the pavilion will host a month-long series of summer events; conceived, organised and hosted by the local community.

Like a flat-pack structure, the pavilion is designed to be assembled on site by non-skilled volunteers, allowing young people to shape their community, from conception to construction. The pavilion will be stored away at the end of the summer, ready to be re-erected annually as a platform for future communal activities.

It will act as a blank canvas – a public structure allowing the local community to shape its character with a programme of activities entirely of their own making. Each year, as the pavilion is erected anew, it will adapt to the needs of the local community

This year’s events reflect the community desire to provide meaningful activities to occupy young people over the summer weeks – ranging from street dance workshops to bringing Southend beach to the estate, complete with donkey rides. All events have been conceived and organised in collaboration with Connexions and SLYCC, local youth organisations.

Cluny Summer Pavilion:

Model of the flat pack structure:

CLUNY SUMMER PAVILION EVENTS

As you can see a mini festival has been put together for the month of August surrounding the pavilion.  Thanks to Connexions and SLYCC, the whole community will be able to get involved!

CURRENT DESIGN

The design for Cluny Square Pavilion needs to be buildable by us and anyone who wants to help.  Therefore we have looked into creating fun shapes from sheets of plywood that can be threaded along a tube and secured either end.

The pavilion comprises of two 'arms' that are perpendicular to each other.  One arm contains seating and a stage, the other contains seating and a counter top.  The young people form Connexions thought it would be fun to work with the cafe in Cluny Square selling food and drinks in the park.

Current plan of the design:

The stage arm modelled:

A starting point for the design of the undulations:

The seating area opposite the stage:

We want the undulations to be more extreme as you walk through the arms, but this was our first attempt!

WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY

We are excited to announce that we will be working with Connexions and SLYCC on a programme of events surrounding the pavilion in August. The pavilion will be put up by us (and anyone who wants to help!) the week of 8th August with an opening event on the weekend of the 13th August. We cannot wait for August in Cluny Park!

WE HEART THE SUBURBS EXHIBITION

The much anticipated We Heart the Suburbs exhibition has finally arrived! Over this May Bank Holiday weekend we will be in Cluny Square, St. Luke's finding out about the local community. Come along to see the results!

COMMUNITY PROJECT: STAGE 02

Through addressing and evaluating the findings of Stage 1, we aim to produce a temporary built form for the summer of 2010. The design for this structure will be made public throughout the design process. A series of workshop events and pin-up opportunities will allow the public to react, critique and suggest during the design process. The built form will fulfil the following criteria:

• It will address a true need or desire of the public highlighted in Stage 1
• It will be designed and built in collaboration with the public
• It will be site-specific and reflect something unique to the community that it serves
• It will utilise an underused or vacant space within the community
• It will evolve over the project duration due to user interaction which will encourage visitors to return to see how it has changed

Here are some examples of the kind of work we want to achieve in Southend-on-Sea:

Southend Soapbox’ by Cassion Castle Architects in collaboration with Fleet Architects, Southend-on-Sea, at Metal’s Village Green festival last summer.

‘Frank’s Café’ by Paloma Gormley and Lettice Drake, Peckham, London.

‘The Dalston Mill’ by EXYZT.

‘Le 56’ by Atelier d’Architecture Autogeree, Paris.

You’ll notice from all the examples that they use cheap, low-tech materials and were temporary and make shift in nature.  However, for their short-lived lives they were a valuable contribution to the community and their short-term nature created a buzz and sense of event around the project.

However, it is fundamental to the ethos of We ♥ the Suburbs, that we do not predetermine or dictate the form that Stage 2 will take.

So where are we now with We ♥ the Suburbs?  We're applying for funding to make this happen and we have every confidence we will be on our way soon.  Keep checking this site for news on the project's start date and how you can get involved!

COMMUNITY PROJECT: STAGE 01

The first stage will engage with local suburbanites in three areas of Southend-on-Sea – St. Luke’s, Milton and Victoria. In each area there will be an interactive exhibition that asks locals to participate through sharing ideas, desires and memories. The exhibition will work as a form of ‘blank canvas’ that the public add to and manipulate to gain a true picture of suburban lifestyles and attitudes. Interactive maps, models, films and photography will enable the local public to create the content of their own exhibition, both highlighting the needs and desires of the local public, and celebrating its existing culture. The main themes addressed will be:

• Suburban memories and stories (Memory)
• Recording, mapping and analysing the ‘everyday’ of Suburbanites (The Everyday)
• The future of suburbia in reaction to contemporary, global issues, i.e. climate change and energy usage (Prospects)

The exhibitions will not only help to generate public engagement, but will also affirm creative networks in the areas. We will achieve this through delegating sections of the exhibitions to local young or non-established designers, architects or artists, through issuing a ‘competition’ 6 weeks prior to the event.

A fourth exhibition will be held in a more central location that will collate, analyse and conclude the information and knowledge gained from the local exhibitions. This will allow all members of the wider community to attend and see how their reactions compare with other areas. This is proposed in an effort to maximise public awareness of the project.

Some examples of work we admire:

CUP’s ‘Green Information Centre’, New York.  They worked with local young people to produce a roaming booth to engage with the local community.  It contained information to answer the local’s green questions.

Public Works’ ‘Park Products’, London.  The project worked with local park users, gardeners, rangers and students to help design the park products.

PROJECT ORGANISATION- THE WIDER CONTEXT

We ♥ the Suburbs is a project that aims to run for approximately one year. Within this time frame there are two major threads to the project. Firstly, a community based project that aims to benefit the suburban environment. Secondly a research project that aims to shed light on the much overlooked territory of Suburbia within the architectural profession.