Assemble RA is a collective based in London, who work across the fields of art, architecture and design. [1] They began working together in 2010 and have described themselves as having between 16 and 20 permanent members. [2] Assemble's working practice seeks to address the typical disconnection between the public and the process by which places are made. Assemble champion a working practice that is interdependent and collaborative, seeking to actively involve the public as both participant and collaborator in the ongoing realization of the work. [3] Their socially responsible approach led them to win a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2017. [4]
While a number of members of the collective are qualified architects, some have no architectural training at all, and have backgrounds in set design, theatre, anthropology, philosophy and construction. Some art critics say that Assemble represents a different vision opposite to those mainstream values in the art world, an argument put forward in The New York Times by N+1 editor Nikil Saval. [5]
Assemble teach architecture and urban design in a number of universities, and lecture and teach workshops around the world. All of their major project work is based in communities in cities in the UK. Some also work in research. Their studio and office space moved in 2016 from Stratford to Bermondsey, retaining its name, Sugarhouse Studios.
One of Assemble's most notable works is Granby Four Streets, an ongoing community project in Toxteth, Liverpool. [6] Beaconsfield Street, Cairns Street, Jermyn Street and Ducie Street were built around 1900 with terraced houses for artisan workers. The first project, 10 Houses on Cairns Street, was realised in collaboration with a Community Land Trust [7] called Granby CLT. Other projects in the area include Granby Workshop and Winter Garden.
The Granby project was nominated [8] for and won the 2015 Turner Prize. [9] Their win was controversial in some quarters as Assemble operate outside of the traditional gallery context and have never claimed to be artists.
Assemble's first two projects, Cineroleum and Folly for a Flyover were temporary installations in public space. Other projects include Yardhouse, [10] [11] a dismountable affordable workspace built next to their workshop and studio in Stratford. It was recently sold to be rebuilt elsewhere now its original site is up for development. [12]
They have started a number of small organisations which run their projects in the longer term, including Baltic Street Adventure Playground [13] [14] in Dalmarnock, East Glasgow, Granby Workshop in Liverpool and Blackhorse Workshop, [15] which is a community workshop and maker space in Walthamstow, North East London.
Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the county of Merseyside.
The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awards go to writers under the age of 30 with works published in the year before the award; the work can be either non-fiction, fiction or poetry.
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The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture was founded in 2006 by architect and scholar Jana Revedin. The Global Award Community, which in 2022 consists of the 75 contemporary architects or architect collectives from around the globe who have previously received the award, works towards a sustainable architectural ethics and fosters research, experimentation, and transmission in the fields of sustainable architecture, urban renewal, and academic social responsibility. It defines architecture as an agent of community empowerment, development and civic rights.
The year 2011 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
The year 2012 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
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Patama Roonrakwit is a Thai architect, who has worked on underprivileged housing development projects for the poor in Thailand. She received her bachelor's degree in architecture from Silpakorn University. She later received her master's degree in development practice from Oxford Brookes University in England.
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The Welsh Streets are a group of late 19th century Victorian terraced streets in Toxteth, Liverpool, England. The houses were designed by Welsh architect Richard Owens and built by Welsh workers to house migrants from Wales; the streets were named after Welsh villages and landmarks. The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr lived the first few years of his life in Madryn Street. Although some original houses were lost in World War II bombing, many of the terraced properties in the original street configuration remain in the present day.
The Northern Art Prize was an annual arts prize, established in 2006 and first awarded in 2007, that was created to celebrate contemporary artists practising in the North of England, which it defined as the North, the North West and Yorkshire and Humber, as per the boundaries operated by Arts Council England. It was open to professional artists of any age and working in any medium. In 2008 it was described by The Guardian as the "Northern Turner Prize". It was last awarded to Margaret Harrison in 2013.
The Granby Four Streets is an area in Toxteth, Liverpool, England, comprising four streets at the tip of a triangle near the Grade II* listed Princes Park. The streets, designed by Welsh architect Richard Owens and built by Welsh workers during the late 19th century are Beaconsfield Street, Cairns Street, Jermyn Street and Ducie Street. A fifth street, Granby Street, connects the four streets together and mostly contains commercial units.
Salma Samar Damluji, is an Iraqi British architect, professor and author. She graduated from the AA School of Architecture in 1977 and from the Royal College of Art in London in 1987, where she did her doctorate. She worked with the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy in Cairo, in 1975-6 and in 1984–5. She was appointed architectural advisor to the UAE minister Shaykh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2001–2004 on The Shaykh Zayed Grand Mosque project and other projects in Abu Dhabi. In 2008, she established with colleagues in Yemen, the Daw'an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation in Hadramut (Yemen) and has been working there on earth construction and rehabilitation projects.