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!

WE ♥ THE SUBURBS ARTISTS COLLABORATION

Thank you to all the artists involved in the We ♥ the Suburbs exhibition.  Local artist, Jess Worley, held a workshop on Saturday giving local children to express their feelings about St. Luke's through drawing, textiles and jewellery.  The exercise was a great success!

Throughout the bank holiday weekend local artists Katrina Burtles, Kelly Donovan, Antoinette Goossens, and Rachel Nead  created a real presence for our exhibition in Cluny Square.  They used the idea of community celebration in conjunction with archival images found which really helped to engage local people.

 

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.

WE ♥ THE SUBURBS @ FOCAL POINT GALLERY SOUTHEND-ON-SEA

Focal Point Gallery have kindly invited us to present and discuss our project at their monthly Creative Network meeting on Wednesday 10th February from 5.30pm until 7.00pm. We want anyone creative and/or interested in their local area to collaborate with us to investigate and discover the culture of their suburbia- so come along to see how you can get involved!

We look forward to seeing you all there.

Location:  Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea Central Library.

Day:  Wednesday 10th February

Time:  5.30pm until 7.00pm

For more information:  http://www.focalpoint.org.uk/events/14/