People’s Pavilion 2023
Project
People’s Pavilion 2023
Client
Beyond the Box Initiative
Project Team
Scale Rule, Re-Fabricate, Saqqra, Team Cultural Maze
Location
East London
Press
The People’s Pavilion was born from an act of protest as to who has the power to design and curate cultural civic space in our city. Beyond the Box set out to create a test ground for collaborative design and production methodologies that sought to explore equity-centred community design.
Located in Lea Bridge Library's garden in Waltham Forest, the pavilion was designed by 18-year-olds Bruno De Marco, Tomi Balogun, and Zhané Philips. The trio’s winning proposal was chosen over six other designs after receiving more than 2,500 public votes. Named ‘Roots of Heritage’ the scheme uses locally sourced timber to create an open space for reflection.
The design competition invited young people 14-18 years of age from across East London, to work collaboratively as part of a small team, and in partnership with professionals from the architectural, construction, and creative arts industries, to design their own temporary pavilion.
After initial outreach workshops across all seven boroughs of East London, we shortlisted a team to represent each borough to go forward and take part in a week-long design development week in February half term, we the aspiring designers working in collaboration with a variety of industry professionals.
The trio’s winning proposal was chosen over six other designs after receiving more than 2,500 public votes. Named ‘Roots of Heritage’ the scheme uses locally sourced timber to create an open space for reflection. The three students from the borough of Tower Hamlets also won an all-expenses trip to the Venice Biennale 2023, where they received a special tour of the British Pavilion.
Young people not only design and build the pavilion but also curate what happens inside of it. As part of the programme, Beyond The Box employed a team of young people to produce a free summer festival at the temporary building.
People’s Pavilion Film
Immerse yourself in East London’s largest collaborative design and production project. Watch our short film to explore the project, learn about the teams we collaborated with, and see how we brought the space to life through an inclusive arts and culture festival, freely accessible to the community. Explore our Cultural Producers Programme here.
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Photographs by © Luke O'Donovan
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© Luke O'Donovan
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© Luke O'Donovan
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© Luke O'Donovan
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Winning Design Team
Roots of Heritage, designed by team Cultural Maze won over the public with their pavilion concept design. The three young aspiring architects and designers from the East London Borough of Tower Hamlets designed their pavilion to be made of renewable and recycled materials, (as was their exhibition model which the public voted on). One of the main features of the pavilion design was to allow for anonymous messages to activate the pavilion, with visitors invited to write things down that they wished to share but may have never said aloud. The idea of their sheltering tree design stems from the fact that Tower Hamlets is one of the largest London boroughs with the most integrated cultures, where diversity and community are a strong focus. The tree represents the growth as a borough and the branches that connect their community.
Exhibition
All seven of the young design teams, each representing their East London borough, exhibited their designs in a physical and digital exhibition whereby we invited the public to vote for their favourite pavilion design. Over 2,500 members of the public took part in the vote. The team’s models and design boards were exhibited at Morris + Company Studios on Mare Street in Hackney. We also exhibited the designs at Lea Bridge Library and promoted online via social media.
A project in collaboration with
AHMM
David Chipperfeld Architects
dRMM
Elliott Wood
Evolve
Haworth Tompkins
Heatherwick Studios
JTP
London Structure Lab
Make Architects
Price & Myers
Re-Fabricate
Saqqra
Simple Works
Structure Workshop
Tisserin Engineers
Thank you to our sponsors and supporters
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Bell Phillips Architects
Countryside Partnerships
David Chipperfield Architects
Equans
dMFK Architects
dRMM
EDIT
Foundation For Future London
GPAD
Haworth Tompkins
Heatherwick Studios
HLM Architects
HTA Design
JTP
Jewson
Karakusevic Carson Architects
The London Academy of Sustainable Construction
Maccreanor Lavington
Make Architects
Morris + Company
PDP London
RIBA London
TateHindle
Waltham Forest Council
Waltham Forest Libraries
Zetteler