London Festival of ARchitecture History - 2023 - In Common

More Edgware, Less Anywhere by Edgy Collective was an intervention that tested ideas for re-greening Edgware town centre and help to inform long-term improvements to the area. The intervention comprised of three nature-based installations that linked disconnected green spaces and highlighted local histories which had been lost in urban development. Spread around three locations in Edgware town centre, it provided engaging wayfinding for members of the public that introduced new routes around the area and encouraged local residents to experience their local area in new ways.

Find out more about the project here.

Seats at the Table was a intervention in Postman's Park, City of London, which explored the intersection between equity, accessibility, and sustainable design. It was composed of a free-standing table surrounded by six chairs that have were co-designed with school children, disabled and non-disabled artists and architects, and makers from The Bartlett, UCL Here East. Each chair thought about how you can design a chair for someone with particular Disability, including their own. The design team hosted a series of events during the month at the intervention.

Find out more about the project here.

Views on the Atlantic by bafalw and Brixton Community Cinema saw the reimagining of two sites to put Brixton locals at the centre of urban planning and improve spatial experience for residents, businesses and visitors. The intervention was composed of two scaffold-based installations across two sites in Brixton - on Atlantic Road, a pop-up cinema structure was installed in the undercroft of the steps of Brixton railway station, while two large screens constructed above disused public toilets on Windrush Square provided the backdrop for archival images and projections during the month of June. The connected film programme was curated with LFA2023 theme in mind and included events and films selected by cinema organisations and archives from across the world.

Find out more about the project here.

Urban Playground by Mccloy + Muchemwa was an intervention that brought an element of unexpected play into the City and invited people to interact with one another and their surroundings in new ways. Inspired by traditional wooden children’s toys which slot together geometrically, the design started with a single block, from which each of the various shapes were ‘carved’ to create opportunities for seating, play or pause. Following LFA, the project was transformed and repurposed to act as a new Bankside meeting point.

Find out more about the project here. 

Urban Playground was one of four built projects in 2023 in partnership with four Business Improvement Districts in the City of London. The other projects were: Common Ground by Urban Radicals and Saqqra, On Tenterground by ciaociao design and The Herbalist Press by Wayward. 

East Finchley Happening, by the East Finchley Town Team, was a workshop testing and generating ideas for how the wide pavement on the High Road can be transformed at the centre of the community. The event aimed to show how the space could be improved positively in the long term through the community coming together and collaborating.

Connecting Colindale by Andre Kong Studio and Wayward, provided a public seating intervention as part of LFA2023, centered around a series of around planters that hosted a range of scented herbs and flowers. Overhead, coloured piping took the form of flight paths draw on the local area’s aviation history, drawing visual links between the Colindale parks and providing space for the plants below to climb and grow over time. The project was commissioned by London Borough of Barnet’s Green Spaces Team, with the brief of combining greening and wayfinding initiatives that would connect Colindale park with nearby Montrose Park and Silk Stream.  Though a temporary installation, the project will now remain in situ for up to 25 years.

Find out more about the project here.

The Penge & Palace Trail was a 10-stop wayfinding trail which would link Crystal Palace Park to the surrounding highstreets and to draw attention to the highlights of Penge’s past and present.  The trail was commissioned by London Borough of Bromley and LFA for LFA2023, and was co-designed with invited members of the local community who were involved in a mapping workshop, hosted at Penge Library. The result of this workshop was the creation of an extremely varied tour which reflected the themes and histories which the group wished to explore including the Celtic origin of Penge’s name, juxtaposition of architectural styles and theatrical history.

Find out more about the trail here.

Legacies of the British Empire by History Speak was part of the 'London Unseen' collection of the programme, and reflected on how the built environment is used to construct memory and impact the future. Led by Manasi Pophale, the tour explored the story of colonisation and decolonisation through statues, monuments and architecture in Westminster. 

‘Waste Not, Want Not’ was the third and final edition of the Showroom Showcase competition by LFA, which called for a series of designers to create a series of creative window installations exploring material re-use under the theme. The project provided emerging designers with a platform to collaborate with world-renowned brands at the cutting-edge of innovative product design. The winning installations were: TIME by Raphaé Memon and Sikander Pervez for Gaggenau, Beauty in the Broken by Isabella Yurtsever for Ideal Standard, and Nebula by Antoniya Stoitsova for VitrA Bathrooms.

Find out more about the projects and here from the designers here.

The Places That Make Us was a day-long event by the Migration Museum, which explored the people and places that make Lewisham the vibrant and diverse community it is today. Events included a discussion around what more can be done to create sustainable community led housing, as well as a walking tour of Lewisham, Deptford and Greenwich featuring contemporary stories of migration and uncovering the legacies of colonialism and how these have shaped the architecture of this ever- changing borough.

The fourth edition of the competition in partnership with the Royal Docks saw four benches installed across the Docklands to serve the local community and function as a useful public amenity. The winning benches included: FLOAT by Akasaki Vanhuyse, Royal Albert Dock, Round The Neighbourhood by Nicolos Makatsaria and Jericho Cabalan, London Design and Engineering UTC, Chit Chat Chair by Studio Groove, Royal Victoria Dock Floating Garden and Together We Hold by Akmaral Khassen, Lyle Park.

Find out more and hear from the designers of the benches here. Including how one of the benches repurposed a bench from Pews and Perches 2022!

The fifth edition of Manifestos: Architecture for a new Generation, an annual collaboration of the LFA and Design saw a four creatives, nominated for their work engaging with and committed to the act of progressive, inclusive placemaking, share their manifestos for a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable city. Learn more about the event here.