Lord Mayors Show 2009

The Building Exploratory, Sebright Primary School, Heatherwick Studios and City Bridge Trust, braved gales and rain storms to take part in the Lord Mayor’s Show this year. Our float, a scale model of a 100 metre long opening bridge designed by one of the UK’s leading designers, Thomas Heatherwick, was part of the parade that travelled through the City of London.  Made from a laser-cut aluminium and timber, the float consisted of 40 moving segments which rolled and unrolled dozens of times during the procession, and which celebrated the 800th anniversary of the first stone crossing over the Thames.  Wearing themed T-shirts, we performed a routine echoing the movement of the bridge choreographed by contemporary dance company Candoco.  A great time was had by all despite the drizzle!

The Changing Face of Hackney

The Building Exploratory held its first ‘Pecha Kucha’ style evening on 26th November to the delight of all. The session was fully booked within hours, participants being attracted to the format and the impressive range of speakers. Seven local artists, designers and architects explored the theme “The Changing Face of Hackney” using 20 images, each of which were shown for 20 seconds. Speakers including Brownsierra, Aranzazu Fernandez Rangel, Andrew Merritt, Alison Barnes, Fugitive Images and Waugh Thistleton embraced the format with enthusiasm, adapting in their own way to the restrictions it creates. Following the presentations, a lively discussion focused on the rapid transformation of Dalston, the growing demand for housing and alternative proposals for derelict sites and public spaces. Small Fry Films were present to capture the event for a documentary on East London commissioned by Transport for London. Similar evenings in partnership with Architecture Centre Network will take place early in 2010 - “Artists Working in Regeneration” in February and “Temporary Use of Building Space” in March.

Arts Council England

The Building Exploratory is delighted to have received one of seven awards made by Arts Council England, London, for developing work with older people. In partnership with Cubitt Gallery and Studios, the Building Exploratory will undertake an action research project to facilitate a skills exchange to benefit our older audiences. The Building Exploratory's established group of over 55s, the Senior Bees (Building Exploratory Explorers), currently participate in an active programme focussing on the local built environment, its heritage, architecture and public spaces. The funding from Arts Council England will allow the Building Exploratory to develop the participation of the group more actively in arts activities, building upon their current interest in the arts as observers and audience members. The project will take place during 2010 across both venues and out in the the local built environment of Hackney and Islington.