Dolly at the Norwegian maple tree in Hackney Wick. Photo courtesy the Wick Curiosity Shop

LEGACY NOW, is the 5th instalment of the event organised and hosted by SPACE which brings together agencies and practitioners to discuss issues surrounding the legacy of the 2012 Olympics. LEGACY NOW 5 was co-organised by the Architecture Foundation who also organised a 2 day workshop session at the Architecture foundation called LEGACY PLUS. public works was invited to contribute to the LEGACY NOW event.

The main focus for both events was the issue of temporary use - an agenda heavily promoted by the LDA. Our presentation focused on two projects which start to initiate and rethink local cultural organisations from the bottom up. The folk float as part of Creative Egremont and the Wick Curiosity Shop which is an ongoing project in Hackney Wick.

Posted February 24, 2010 10:30 by Kathrin Böhm

Torange just came back from West Bengal in India, visiting the three districts of Nadia, Medinipur and Puruliya in West Bengal. The trip was to look at a specific art form in each area for which a cultural centre will be designed. Visits extend to local crafts which are mainly dying traditions, to see how they can be revived in new ways in developing the architecture and the building components of the centres. Our local partner 'Banglanatak' will work with us in the villages and with the craftsmen and women in developing these products, testing them and skilling locals on how to produce and construct the components. The building construction process will also be part of a skilling process enabling locals to build more robust and secure houses for themselves. public works will develop a building product for each district, closely related to local skills and resources. We will develop fanzines to document the process and keep you posted on the blog.

Posted February 17, 2010 06:44 by Torange Khonsari

Launch on Saturday the 27 February 2010 from 5pm onwards
Exhibition open from 27 February - 27 March 2010
firstsite
4 - 6 Short Wyre Street
Colchester CO1 1LN

Colchester Inn is a project about hosting and welcoming in Colchester. On completion Colchester Inn will exist as an independent, pavilion like structure, designed through a collaborative process with local groups. It will provide a new meeting and hosting space outside firstsite's new building and will be available to be used by the general public. Each component of the space will be designed and developed in collaboration with a different local group around their specific customs of hosting and welcoming.

public works were commissioned by firstsite to develop a long-term collaborative project working with new and existing community groups. The Knot Curtain is the first result of this process and the first physical component of Colchester Inn. It is the result of a year-long collaboration between public works and participants from the Colchester Chinese Culture Society (CCCS). The Knot Curtain will be on display in firstsite's Project Space throughout March 2010.

The Knot Curtain is derived from the rich history of Chinese decorative knot-making. The group developed a modular curtain made of layered acrylic shape; these shapes have been drawn from specific Chinese as well as local seafaring knots. Each module doubles as a photo frame, inspired by the Chinese tradition of showing photos to visiting guests. The frames can be used singularly or joined together to produce The Knot Curtain.
The full process of developing the frame has been recorded on the project's website: http://www.colchesterinn.net.

Over the next couple of years public works will continue working with a variety of groups and individuals to explore how they host others and to collaboratively create the Colchester Inn.

Posted February 3, 2010 11:56 by Andreas Lang