I was away for this lecture, and so decided to the media to collect ideas on these new young practioners, after all if a journalist puts on the talks, then it's only right another fills the void of information. (Rowan Moore, Observer Sunday 9 January 2011).
Studio Weave (Maria Smith and Je Ahn) were described as the more 'venerable' version of young pracitioners, though their presentation the following week for Start Again #1 was a bit disorganised. I guess she had forgotten her memory stick. The dog ate it. 'Maria Smith, says they are the "Challenge Anneka generation", inspired by the 1990s TV series...' Inspired. Full stop. What a great memory. The slightly mocking way in which their naive, or 'sweet' attempts at narrative through childrens stories was highlighted was interesting, as Moore saw them more as idea generators for projects, rather than a means of identifying with their audience/client.
I'm disappointed I missed 'Practice Architecture' talk, I feel a certain allegiance. Lettice was my classmate at undergrad, and I liked Frank's cafe when I visited those many summers ago...or was it last summer?
'Drake says: "When Frank's exploded there was a feeling of, 'Oh shit, we've ruined Peckham.'" Worried that they had become agents of gentrification, they tried to atone with a plan to turn the old ticket office at Peckham Rye station, a disused "ballroom-like" space, into a "community restaurant". But they realised that the local communities were capable of setting up restaurants without their help. "We were trying to invent an infrastructure that already existed and it wasn't our place to do it. It felt patronising and dodgy."
Quite refreshing to hear gentrification being questioned following the appeal of trendies to their cafe. (I'm not counting myself as one here)
And the other negative of these 'pop ups':
'It's not a good thing if architecture is always seen as a form of volunteer work, that costs almost nothing and requires only the most basic details...But these young architects can't be expected to take on all the economic forces that surround them.'
Hey Beth, interesting subjecu. I like the bits you've highlighted in the post. It's all pretty pertinent stuff. But who or what are you quoting?
ReplyDeleteSorry Mags, my referencing system has gone to pott, what must I have been thinking?!
ReplyDeleteThe narrator and end quote was Rowan Moore (The Observer, Sunday 9 January 2011), the other is Lettice Drake, Practice Architecture. Just bits I liked form the article.
I was in Odessa for this one, so thought I'd read up on the views of the media instead.