Alsop Architects, London
Alsop Architects' new exhibition at the Aedes East Gallery explores an important aspect of the practice’s activity in recent years; architecture as a tool driving community regeneration. It focuses on two distinct projects, one complete, the other in current development, in which the processes of consultation with user groups have led to the emergence of buildings engendering a sense of ownership by their users within the local context.
Peckham Library constituted a flagship regeneration project for the borough of Southwark in south London. The brief called for a building of architectural merit which would bring prestige to the borough and inculcate pride for the building by local people. Alsop Architects created a building of unique appearance which satisfied both criteria, comprising innovatory solutions to design problems, creating working, archive and meeting spaces of genuine delight and stimulating appearance. The library was conceived with sustainability in mind and has natural lighting and ventilation systems which significantly diminish both demands on energy resources and running costs. Peckham Library won Britain’s most celebrated architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in November 2000.
C-Plex is rooted in a belief that the arts are themselves a fertile source of community renewal and social and economic regeneration. West Bromwich-based Jubilee Arts has been putting this belief into practice since the 1970s, breaking down boundaries between the arts, social work, education and rehabilitation and drawing on a wide range of funding for its work. C-Plex brings together themes which the organisation has pursued over 25 years and is one of the boldest cultural projects of the millennium, drawing on Lottery, EU and other regeneration funding.
Alsop Architects set out to produce a building which is "visible, desirable and there to be explored". The site, formerly used as a bus station, is at the heart of the town, the building is considered as a unity with its associated public space, a new square set to become the focus of the town and with the potential for being used for all sorts of performances and events. The square is itself an art work, with contributions from a series of artists and a specially designed lighting strategy. The form of the building has gone through a process of development, and now takes the form of a simple rectangle, elevated above ground level, and clad in an interactive facade, of transparent and translucent glass panels, which lends itself to the application of art works.
The exhibition will feature specially commissioned films on both C/Plex and Peckham Library, focusing on their role in the cultural life of the boroughs they serve, as well as development models, drawings and renderings for the projects, and Will Alsop’s conceptual artwork for four other new projects in cultural, community and commercial spheres.
Welcome:
Kristin Feireiss, Berlin/Rotterdam
James Kennedy, Deputy Director, British Council
Jan R. Krause, Journalist, Berlin
An Aedes catalogue will be published (20.-DM).
