Current Participation Projects
Urban Translation Middlesbrough
From the new town hall to the old town hall and on to the transporter bridge
For Design Event, October 2009
Design Event commissioned Northern Architecture to devise the third in a series of new, alternative public tours in the North East, this year held in Middlesbrough over the two weekends of the design festival in October.
The tour is based on a series of conversations about Middlesbrough's past, present and future. It follows a route, which captures Middlesbrough's story of rapid growth and prosperity, economic decline and ambition to reinvent itself.
Spaces by Design
Saltwell Park
21st and 22nd October 2009
Northern Architecture have been working with the Glass House – Community Led Design and Bureau of Design Research from Sheffield University school of architecture, to offer North East residents free public space design training. This two day course aimed to assist and enable groups to lead on the development of a public space in their area.
The course introduced three groups of adults and young people to the basic principles of how to design successful, good quality spaces which included site visits to three examples of public spaces in Tyne and Wear. The design and water features of Sunniside Gardens in Sunderland were especially enjoyed, despite the miserable weather. Back at base in Saltwell Park, each group worked intensively to produce models and design proposals for their own sites.
Neighbourhood 2020
Tyneside
Throughout 2009
This September Northern Architecture has brought together a group of Tyneside residents in a series of workshops to explore how the design of the built environment impacts on the quality of life of older people resulting in a range of ideas and solutions relating to health, technology, navigation, access and street furniture.
The project, commissioned by the Northern Housing Consortium, looks at the reality of age-friendly neighbourhoods and what these would look like in the future. The group of Tyneside residents, that included members of the Elders Council, got a chance to work with Lowri Bond, Northern Architecture’s Projects Officer to take a fresh look at their current neighbourhoods and were then asked to give ideas of what was needed to make their neighbourhoods friendly for older people.
"Revolution to Recycle Buildings": A conversation
The Bed Shed, Gateshead
Monday 22nd June 2009
This event was part of the North East Festival of Architecture 2009 www.nefa.org.uk
The title of this event, a quote from Hazel Blears (former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government), responds to what is becoming a broad national debate about empty spaces and places, currently picking up pace amongst communities and particularly creative and built environment professionals. This conversation looks at the reality of this ‘call to arms’ at The Bed Shed in Gateshead, a former retail unit temporarily converted into artists’ space.
DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT OF EVENT HERE (GO TO VIEW MORE)
Winning Places North East
Exploring Sport and Place with the over 55’s
Summer 2009
Winning Places is a brand new partnership project between Northern Architecture and The Building Exploratory in Hackney, inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
It is supported by CABE’s nationwide programme O.Space, which showcases the regeneration and architecture of the London 2012 Olympic site and how it is relevant to neighbourhoods across the UK.
Winning Places engaged with two over 55’s groups, one based in Hackney and one in Tyne and Wear, to explore sporting architecture and how its design and role in regeneration shapes the identity of where we live.
What We Share: People, Place and Participation
The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University
17 February 2009
Northern Architecture and the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (Newcastle University) host regional symposium series. Newcastle University are developing a publication that will be available from September 2009. It will include an article about this event by Northern Architecture.
‘What We Share: People, Place and Participation’ was an exciting debate series, exploring participation processes and community led initiatives relating to the built environment.
Northern Architecture and SAPL invited Living Streets, North of England Civic Trust, PEANuT and Planning Aid North to contribute to a series of lunchtime talks and a symposium held at The Hatton Gallery on 17 February 2009. Chaired by Doina Petrescu, the symposium was an opportunity for the panelists and audience to explore both conventional and alternative participatory process and address key questions:
Why is particaption important to you?
Participation in what and with whom?
What role have you played?
What problems have you encountered ?
Any revelations?
The future...new forms of participation?
Doina Petrescu is the founder of Atelier d´Architecture Autogérée (AAA) an interdisciplinary practice engaging architects, artists, urban planners, landscape designers, sociologists, activists, students and residents. AAA has acquired an international reputation and has become an important reference for contemporary participative practices in architecture. Doina also lectures in the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield.
Links:
Dr Doina Petrescu: atelier d'architecture autogeree: www.urbantactics.org
School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University
First stop Fawcett Street
Urban Translation Sunderland Tour 2008
Sunderland
October 2008
Urban Translation Sunderland was commissioned as part of the DE08 Festival in October. This alternative tour of the city provided an opportunity for members of the public to engage with the architecture and design of Sunderland through a live event. The tour was devised and led through collaboration with Ben Hall - Director of Sunniside Partnership, Mike Lowe - Senior Conservation Officer at Sunderland City Council, North Shields based writer Paul Summers, Urban Designer Hugh Daglish and Northern Architecture.
Sharing Places – Creating New Public Spaces in Walker
Walker, Tyne & Wear
Summer 2008
Northern Architecture in partnership with Walker Regeneration Team and Places for People, (with funding from Bridging Newcastle Gateshead)
Northern Architecture has been working with Walker Riverside Regeneration to develop opportunities for Walker’s residents to be involved in and influence the design of their public spaces. The “Sharing Places” project is a starting point for the discussion of ideas and a way of drawing other residents into the process. The recommendations that come from the residents will be fed into the public art strategy for Walker as well as being used to inform the brief for the developer.
To view the animation film on YouTube, produced as part of this project, click here.
To download the design guide, click on the title at the bottom of the View More page.
HOME
Publication available
HOME has been concluded with the production of a new publication that summarises the key outcomes of the project.
Last year Northern Architecture set up the HOME project in partnership with Newcastle’s Elders Council and Quality of Life Partnership. It set out to learn more about the views and requirements of older people in relation to their homes.
