Artists in the City.
What is the significance of artists in cities and how can Spaces for Knowledge Exchange help to build connections between different communities?
This year we investigated the wider significance of existing artist communities in East London which are increasingly under threat of displacement by urban replacement and the high value of land in London. Contrary to the current urban policies that favour the ‘new’ over the ‘existing’, we engaged with the idea that artist communities are the roots of the creative industries in London, and we set out to re-imagine alternative models for spatial production that support their existence and permanence as an important part of the civic and productive fabric of inner-city neighbourhoods.
We collaborated with art studio-provider SPACE [Space Provision Artistic Cultural and Educational] and engaged with their artist community to explore how their diverse and creative practices impact the city beyond the studio space itself. We surveyed and analysed five SPACE studio buildings in Hackney and discovered formal and informal activities, exchanges, interactions, networks and relationships that characterise the practice of artists in the city. In response to this, students then devised strategies and designed Spaces for Knowledge and Skill Exchange that expand on the potential of existing creative and cultural practices through the construction of a spatial civic network.
The body of knowledge produced collectively through engagement in multi-disciplinary discourse including with students from Central Saint Martins Design Studio 2 working on the same topic, is currently further explored through a collaborative research project lead by the tutors and supported by SPACE Studios that also provide seven Unit A alumni with work experience as co-researchers.