Join us on a visit to Department 21 for a roundtable discussion about cross-disciplinary practice led by public works with guests Celine Condorelli (London-based architect and author of 'support structures'), Richard Wentworth (Head of Sculpture, RCA) and Sarah Teasley (design historian and RCA History of Design)

Department 21 is a temporary, physical space established by students of the RCA as an experiment in interdisciplinary practice.

Temporarily taking over a vacated space in the Royal College of Art, Department 21 seeks to explore whether this territory, freed by the departure of one department and the anticipation of another, can become a new kind of conceptual, physical and social space which test the possibilities of a cross-disciplinary initiative.

For one month only, students from all departments of the College are invited to use this platform to develop independent work and cultivate collaborative projects in a multi-purpose environment.

The Round table discussion will look at the nature of initiatives originating from within institutional settings and the potential of cross-disciplinarity within educational institutions such as the RCA.

The event will run from 1pm this Friday the 4th of December 2009 in Lecture Theater 2 at the RCA. Visitors to the RCA can enter from the main entrance, which looks onto the Royal Albert Hall and follow the signs guiding visitors to Lecture Theater 2.
Click here to find the location on google maps

Posted December 2, 2009 22:01 by Andreas Lang

The next Friday Session will take place at Coniston Sports and Social Centre
Shepherds Bridge, Coniston, Cumbria.
As part of a fieldtrip to Grizedale Arts/Lawson Park which is organised in conjunction with a new pan-european collective research project, RHYZOM.

With short presentations by the different RHYZOM partners and guests, to introduce themselves and showing work related to local production.

Sarah Hunt from atelier d'archicture autogérée, Paris
Wapke Feenstra and Antje Schiffers from myvillages.org, Rotterdam/Berlin
Kathrin Böhm from public works, London
Tatjana Schneider and Florian Kossak from Agency, Sheffield
Bryony Reid and Fiona Woods from PS2, Belfast
Craig Sands, Belfast
Celine Condorelli, support structure, London
Dorian Moore, London

With pies from Pott's Pies in Lancaster and drinks at the bar.

Posted September 25, 2009 09:37 by Kathrin Böhm

tinga-salon.jpg

This Is Not A Gateway (TINAG)will be hosting another salon at public works studio, this time about "The Medical City".

The number one cause of death amongst children in the developing world is not famine or war, but respiratory illness due to urban pollution. In a rapidly increasing urbanised world there is an urgency to address the complexities between cities and public health. Should the medical fraternity be the future builders of cities? 
 


What can urbanists learn from medicine? Could the medical knowledge, lexicon and methodologies be adopted and applied to cities? How can the 
knowledge from building hospitals be extended 
to cities? What knowledge does a paramedic who navigates a city's streets and treats its citizens have that might be vital? What can be learned about public health from a land contamination officer? How can public health be put at the
forefront in city planning?

This Is Not A Gateway have brought together three compelling urbanists to consider the historic relationship between urban planning and public health, to explore how medical knowledge can be adapted by city planners,and to discuss how public health can become an integral part of urban planning:

• ELIZABETH FONSECA, Environmental Quality Manager, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• PHIL GUSACK, Architect and 
Director of gusack.com
• CHRIS SHARP, Urban Software Designer, Holistic City 


Salons are informal, free and open to all. There are always beer and beigals. To register, please email: salons@thisisnotagateway.net

Posted July 5, 2008 00:01 by Andreas Lang

Rural public space - Cross Country

The next Friday Session will take place as part of
Torange Khonsari's (public works)
Cross Country project for Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridgeshire.

The project concludes research and walks that were undertaken in the last year
in and around the village of Bourn and Wysing Arts Centre, and proposes new questions and structures towards public and communal spaces in a rural environment.
Torange has negotiated the temporary extension of a public path into privately owned land, and the Friday Session will be part of a series of events to take place on a specifically designed platform structure on site.
The speakers would be
Torange Khonsari - talking about the definition/condition of a rural public space and its immediate community
Wapke Feenstra - conducting a soil drilling on site and opening a discussion around who owns which layer of the land.

Programme:
Thurs 13 - Sat 15 March
Bourn Village
local walks
Thurs 10am - 2pm, led by Polly Brannan, William Bevan
Friday 10am - 2pm, led by Polly Brannan, William Bevan, Torange Khonsari
Saturday 10am - 2pm, led by Sarah Butler

Thurs 13 - Sat 15 March
Personal map-making workshops
Thurs 2 - 4pm, led by Polly Brannan, Torange Khonsari
Friday 2 - 4pm led by Polly Brannan, Torange Khonsari
Saturday 12 - 2pm led by Sarah Butler

Saturday 2 - 4pm
Friday Session_26
Discussion on the role of rural space and culture
Torange Khonsari, architect in public works
Wapke Feenstra, artist in myvillages.org

Posted February 23, 2008 13:46 by Torange Khonsari

salon-03-600px.jpg

The speakers, the bagels and the audience

FRIDAY SESSION 24
THIS IS NOT A GATEWAY (SALONS) presents:
HOW VERMIN ARE SHAPING OUR FUTURE CITIES

MONDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2007
18:30 FOR 19:00 START

Hosted by public works:
2-8 Scrutton Street
London EC2A 4RT
For directions click here

This Is Not A Gateway (Salons) invites you to share beers and bagels whilst
discussing HOW VERMIN ARE SHAPING OUR FUTURE CITIES.

Vermin, cities and people shape each other. Urban vermin and their varieties
are on the increase. This increase has been attributed rising density, the global
mobility of people and goods and shifting climates - micro and global.

Which species have had close to a thousand years influence over our cities?
How have vermin affected the use and inhabitation of urban space historically?
Why were vermin culturally and socially constructed as expressions of
'dirtiness, contamination and the other'?

What changes has a pest controller noticed across the last decade in London's dwellings?
Where have vermin and pests been referenced in the arts?
How do vermin affect London's development process?
What role will vermin play in 'the urban age'?

The following four compelling urbanists have been brought together to present
and lead the discussion:

Ben Campkin / Lecturer, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Tea Mäkipää / Artist, Finland
Alan Pipe / Zoologist, Archaeology Service, Museum of London
Effie Williams / Senior Pest Controller, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Many thanks to chaudigital for investing in this salon

Please register: salons@thisisnotagateway.net
web: www.thisisnotagateway.net

Posted November 15, 2007 21:19 by Andreas Lang

salon-02-public-air-space_600px.jpg

Joost Beunderman (Researcher, Demos) was asked by TINAG to write a brief post salon essay, highlighting the audience and speakers key points in a format that can be used to contribute to further debate and policy formulation. His essay can now be downloaded here -> tinag-public-air-space-post-salon-essay.pdf

The next TINAG SALON in the lead up to the October 2008 Festival is on Monday 26th November - 'How Vermin Are Shaping our Future Cities'

Posted October 8, 2007 08:40 by Andreas Lang

tinag_image.jpg

THIS IS NOT A GATEWAY SALONS presents: PUBLIC AIR SPACE
Hosted by PUBLIC WORKS

Monday 24TH September 2007
18:30 for 19:00 Start

From Stonehenge, to churches to university spires; houses of parliament to central railway stations and public housing projects; tall buildings have been expressions of public, civil and religious life. There is no doubt this has changed. Does this change matter? What is their new potential?

London's skyline has transformed in the last five years and is likely to continue to do so for another five. Only a few times each century do cities go through such focussed and prolific production and re-development. In its rush, each "boom" forges a transformation on the morphology of the city for future generations to read.

This Is Not A Gateway (TINAG) asks should everyone in the city have access to a horizon? Should this access be policy in the London Plan? Might these spaces articulate the new multiculturalism and 24hr clock of cities? Could "public spaces in the sky" be our new Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest or Queen's Park?

Dedicated to creating arenas for emerging voices related to cities, across cultures and disciplines TINAG coordinates bimonthly salons, annual festival, publications and an online library.

On this occasion we are delighted to be joined by four outstanding urbanists to consider and reconsider the relationships between tall buildings, amenity and public spaces - what they might be, what they might mean; in the air, up in the sky, in the city. PUBLIC AIR SPACE speakers:

Léa Ayoub (Researcher, Robert Tavernor Consultancy, LSE)
Paul Goodwin (Re-visioning Black Urbanism, CUCR Goldsmiths College)
Lina Gudmundsson (Urban Designer, Design for London )
Indy Johar (Architect, Zero Zero Architects)

To download a pdf press release click here ->tinag-public-air-space-salon-press.pdf

Posted September 16, 2007 20:08 by Andreas Lang

pictoplasma0_600.jpg

Animated presentation by Pictoplasma partner, Lars Denicke from Berlin, followed by public works Xmas Drinks from 8 pm onwards.

Starting in 1999, Pictoplasma has archived and stimulated the activities of character design around the globe. By playfully sampling and remixing visual codes, contemporary character design has redefined the aesthetic standards of visual communication worldwide.

It is Pictoplasma's aim to foster an understanding of this phenomenon as a new era of figurative expression. Through pictorial encyclopaedias, exhibitions, online archives and festivals, Pictoplasma brings together artists and designers from all over the world, encouraging experimentation and pushing the development of this new visual language. Recently, the 2nd Pictoplasma Conference brought together designers and artists from around the world in Berlin to "Get into Character". In a collaboration of character designers, costume designers, dancers and visual artists, the relation of image and body has been brought to issue in a fresh way.

For more information please visit www.pictoplasma.com

Posted December 1, 2006 19:00 by Log

christiana_6001.jpg

Freetown Christiania: Research Presentations and Debate

Individual Research Presentations followed by informal Dinner for everyone, followed by
discussion and debate

Freetown Christiania (www.christiania.org)
The Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen has been in existence for more than three decades. For just as long it has had to defend its self-governed status against the Danish government’s attempt to “normalize” it. Christiania is a unique community and place that holds its own rules, and proves a successful model for collective ownership and living.

The Christiania Researcher in Residence project (http://crir.homepage.dk)
The Christiania Researcher in Residence project was established in regards to the fact that Christiania is part of Denmark's history and poses questions of what Denmark's cultural memory is and how it should be formed. These questions are extended to an international context.

Friday Session 08
The evening will start with presentations by Christiania residents involved in the current negotiation regarding Christiania’s status and future, and members of the Christiania Researcher in Residence Project. It will be followed by artists who have been invited by CRIR to develop work in response to Christiania.

An informal dinner will allow everyone to gain energy for a more general discussion on Christiania
as a social, cultural and legal model. The profit made from selling drinks and food will go to CRIR.

Presentations and contributions by

Lise Autogena
London based artist, former Christiania resident and founding member of CRIR.
(www.autogena.org)

Emmerik Warburg
Christinania based sound engineer and video artist, founding member of CRIR and part of Christiania´s activistic society.
(http://home.christiania.org/~emmerik/)
(http://crir.homepage.dk)

Jens Brandt
Architect, activist and member of CRIR, based in Copenhagen and Croatia.
(www.supertanker.info)

Asa Sonjasdotter
Artist and member of CRIR, based in Sweden, Denmark and Berlin.
(www.potatoperspective.org)

Nicoline van Harskamp
Amsterdam based visual artist; her video project “Christiania Trias Politica” looks into the history of rules and governance in Christiania.
(www.vanharskamp.net)

Jaime Stapleton
London based historian currently working for the World Intellectual Property Organisation; his primary focus was the "sense of ownership" that Christianites have developed in relation to their homes and community and its relation to "legal" ownership of property in Christiania.
(www.jaimestapleton.info)

Neil Chapman & Martin Wooster
UK based artists and writers, whose audio interviews trace an invisible relationship between people and stories in Christiania.
(www.slashseconds.org/issues/001/003/articles/nchapmanmwooster/index.php)

Michael Baers
Berlin based artist, who is asking “What is the Mystery” in his recent comic strip about Christiania, which appeared serially in Ugspjelet, the Christiania community weekly paper
(http://crir.homepage.dk/michaelbaers/mystery_1.html)

Posted November 3, 2006 19:00 by Kathrin Böhm

img_8433_600.jpg

Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, DK, is both a living community and an amazing social and cultural experiment, which keeps developing and evaluating itself. The Christiania Researchers in Residence Porgramme was set up to invite artits from outside to live in Christiania and to develop new work that explores some of the particularities of Christiania.
The evening will start with a number of presentations by artists who have worked from within Christiania, followed by an informal dinner for everyone, and a debate on the current situation of Christiania and the research outcomes in relation it.

For more information visit http://crir.homepage.dk

Posted October 16, 2006 12:00 by Kathrin Böhm