Rehearsals started

Rehearsals in the main space, kitchen and shop

The Whitechapel Gift Shop is an art and architecture project by public works, in collaboration with the clients Pilar and Pele Cortizo Burgess.public works were the architects for the Whitechapel Gift Shop creating a home, which looks at the shifting boundaries between public and private realm and questions the necessity of institutions as predominant contemporary cultural spaces. The project tests the boundaries of public and private further with the public event of the performance - 'Plastic'.

public works collaborated with 30 bird productions creating 'Plastic' as a spatial and site specific performance 2 years ago for Edinburgh Festival and now we are collaborating to recreate it in the domestic context of the Whitechapel Gift Shop project.

'Plastic' was nominated for a Total Theatre Award in Edinburgh 08 and selected by The Guardian as one of the top four shows in the festival. It is coming to London to The Whitechapel Gift Shop from 18-27 March. Tickets can be booked online at: www.wegottickets.com/30birdproductions.

For more info on Plastic visit 30 bird productions website: www.30birdproductions.org

For more info on 'Whitechapel gift shop' please see www.publicworksgroup.net/giftshop and the client's website www.thewhitechapelgiftshop.com

Posted March 11, 2010 08:32 by Torange Khonsari

public work's archive box

The Archive of Shared interests has its second outing at the Whitespace Gallery which I had the pleasure of viewing when in Zurich last week. The archive brings together 30 practices who each submitted work. All contributions are referenced on a large wall and the individual dossiers are stored in plastic boxes which are loosely spread throughout the space. Its definitely worthwhile seeing when in Zurich. It is open until 20th of March 2010 on the 11.03 & 18.03 2010 from 3pm - 6pm or by appointment 079 231 33 36.
Below is the official abstract and address with a picture of our archive box above.

Archive of Shared Interests - Transfer Zone - Temporary Life - Temporary Communities
30 Theoretical approaches, architectural and artistic dossiers for communities in the Transfer Zone

Communities are defined by artists, scholars and urbanists as an antithesis to general society and its constraints, but they differ widely from one another in the roles they play. Whether the community is thought of as a secret utopia or as a threat to the individual, whether as a cooperative, a neighbourhood or a societal group, and whether or not the respective community is to be dissolved - every time, a certain artistic, architectural or theoretical concept of community initiates a subtext directed toward the public. Certain actions are implicitly designated for the visitors, the users, the readers; the public is revolutionized, integrated, informed, instructed, involved or controlled. The archive is conceived as a project apparatus on the broad theme of "community", an apparatus representing different and contradictory approaches and points of view on the basis of which "community" can be discussed. The archive will serve prospectively as the project apparatus of a research project and be expanded.

The archive is curated by Karin Frei Bernasconi, Siri Peyer, Dorothee Richter,
Exhibition design Jesko Fezer with Postgraduate Program in Curating, ICS ZHdK,
Graphic Design Megan Hall.

White Space // Office for Curating / Art / Theory
Programming: Dorothee Richter, Siri Peyer
Militärstrasse 76
Zugang über Kanonengasse neben Café Aloha
CH - 8004 Zürich
www.whitespace.ch

Posted March 9, 2010 21:30 by Andreas Lang

On display and for sale

We've just launched the pilotphase for the COLCHESTER INN project by presenting the KNOT CURTAIN at the current firstsite gallery. The curtain is the first of a series of new elements which will over time construct the COLCHESTER INN - a new public meeting space in Colchester.

The individual frames refer to chinese forms of hosting and the tradition of Chinese knot making. Assembled they works as a division wall/room curtain/display. The frames are on sale at firstsite and the profit will be reinvested into the new meeting space.

Posted March 2, 2010 10:18 by Kathrin Böhm

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

Kathrin from public works will be talking about collaborations, the local and extended notions of architecture at the MA in Design + Environment at Goldsmiths.

Posted January 26, 2010 11:25 by Log

public works is part of a group show curated by transparadiso in Bludenz, Austria entitled 'Urbane Wunder' (Urban Miracles). As part of the exhibition we are showing the Granville Cube project which is now in its final phase.

Remise Bludenz/ Galerie Aller Art
Jan. 22 – Feb. 21, 2010 / Opening Jan. 21, 2010, 8 pm
Event Feb.6, 2010 | 2–6 pm Invitation to reconstruct the Palace of the Republic / 7 pm talk by transparadiso

_concept by transparadiso (Barbara Holub/ Paul Rajakovics) with
Michael Ashkin, New York
Stadtlabor_Osservatorio Urbano, Lungomare Bozen
Community Museum Project, Hong Kong
Céline Condorelli, London
Teddy Cruz, San Diego
feld 72, Vienna
public works, London
Jens Emil Sennewald, Paris
Allan Siegel, Budapest
SMAQ, Berlin
Gerald Straub, Wien
transparadiso, Wien
Georg Winter, Stuttgart/ Saarbrücken

“All utopias are depressing, because they leave no room for chance, for difference, for the “miscellaneous”. Everything has been set in order and order reigns. Behind every utopia there is always some great taxonomic design: a place for each thing and each thing in its place.” (aus: Georges Perec, Species of Spaces and Other Stories)

Who still believes in miracles? And what are actually urban miracles ? How much insistence, courage, boldness, despair and confidence is needed to make miracles happen in the public/ urban space and in socio-political realm? transparadiso has invited artists/ urbanists/ architects/ cultural producers from different cultural contexts to discuss these aspects and show their personal experience and interpretation of miracles happening in the public realm and urban space.

In spite of self-censorship and pragmatism resulting from experience and obvious restrictions artists, urbanists and architects keep insisting in making the impossible happen. Miracles amaze the most when they are least expected or seem to be completely impossible. We do not believe in miracles, yet sometimes they happen, or does believing and hoping contribute to the chance of making a miracle happen? Is it not the artist/ architect/ writer sometimes who produces that specific energy which seems as if in vein, to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and counteracting the pragmatism of today by producing a necessary, incalculable something, which one might wish to acquire more presence?

Park Fiction (Hamburg, initiated by Christoph Schäfer/ Cathy Skeene) could be considered the "Mother" of recent urban miracles. "it was finally opened in 2005, after 10 years of struggle and production of wishes. Thousands of people came to participate in this "Permanent Pick-nick against Gentrification" and used the opening of the park as an occasion to protest against the latte-macchiatization of the urban space in St.Pauli". Ever since then, Park Fiction is considered the reference project of the unexpected success of resistance which managed to prevent the investors from realizing their mere profit driven plans of urban development.

Miracles – especially urban miracles – are not linked to a scientific definition or theoretical category but rather to amazement. Therefore the contributions of the participants reflect their personal approach and interpretation of Urban Miracles. They offer a range of visible and surprisingly successful miracles in urban space to more poetic-narrative spaces which could eventually lead to miracles in real space. If one has in mind that each miracle is preceded by a longing, one might explore the potential of transferring the Urban Miracle to the Regional Miracle, or consider how a Regional Miracle could start on its own. Barbara Holub/ Paul Rajakovics

A catalog will be published by Bucher Verlag.

Posted January 18, 2010 09:18 by Andreas Lang

Happy New Year first of all and thanks for following our log and the things we do

Until the launch of our new website (SOON!) we keep using this blog to publish news and events.

Projects to watch out for in 2010 include
- the launch of our first COLCHESTER INN Produce in February
- the design and production of a Multipurpose Mobile Art Space for a hospital in Zuerich
- the launch of the final Whitechapel Giftshop conversion
- the ongoing efforts to run and establish the International Village Shop together with myvillages.org, Grizedale Arts and Somewhere

Posted January 4, 2010 11:43 by Kathrin Böhm

To all our colleagues, friends, collaborators and commissioners!

Posted December 21, 2009 12:44 by Log