{"id":751000,"date":"2024-08-09T08:13:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T07:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=751000"},"modified":"2024-08-12T08:36:59","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T07:36:59","slug":"west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery","title":{"rendered":"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

This commission for a pop-up play space in the Curve gallery takes inspiration from the Barbican Art Gallery\u2019s summer exhibition, Francis Al\u00ffs: Ricochets, in which the artist Al\u00ffs celebrates the ingenuity and universality of play.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

West Port Architects was commissioned to act as lead designer, given the brief of creating an indoor space reflective of the places in which we play and explore.<\/p>\n

This temporary space in the form of a familiar London street, consists of 3D interactive built structures and 2D graphics, intended to prompt a visual and sensory experience as you move through the Curve space.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The show was co-designed with a range of community partners, local schoolchildren and London artists. A series of programmes is scheduled through August.<\/p>\n

Our Street is open until Friday 23 August.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Architect\u2019s view<\/h3>\n

We were commissioned by the Barbican Centre to recreate the London street to facilitate play \u2013 whether through ball games, group play or solo play \u2013 with London as a backdrop. In tandem with the children-focused Barbican Art Gallery\u2019s Francis Al\u00ffs: Ricochets exhibition, currently on at the Barbican Art Gallery, our show is a space that encourages people to touch, feel and explore as they wish, with a mixture of 2D and 3D prompts focusing on play.<\/p>\n

As lead designers, we worked closely with St Luke’s Primary School near Old Street, co-designing the space together. Their invaluable input has helped shape the look and feel of the street and it was our privilege to bring their ideas to life. The show is only open during August and, with a limited budget and time, we wanted to create something that was both impactful, fun and relatively low-fi in our representation of the London street, zoned into Tourist, Neighbourhood and Park.<\/p>\n

This meant being selective in the 3D elements for the most impact, using available stock from the Barbican Centre. Anything built for the show will be reused for future shows and exhibitions. Key to the design is designing through the eyes of children. This includes everything from the heights of our shopfronts to the mix of colours and tactility of the surfaces. Though primarily for schoolchildren, it is for all ages and a place where people are encouraged to linger and engage.<\/p>\n

With the help of many talented local artists, game and designers, this is West Port’s love letter to London, the greatest city in the world, through the lens of a child.
\nShaun Ihejetoh, d<\/em>irector, West Port Architects<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Client\u2019s view<\/h3>\n

Led by Barbican\u2019s Creative Collaboration team, the intention with Our Street is to create an inclusive, fun and welcoming space for families and young people to explore (and re-discover) the joy of play over the summer.<\/p>\n

We were excited to partner with West Port not only because of the quality of its projects and its interest in working with cultural institutions, but importantly, because of the practice\u2019s openness to creating something new through collaboration, integrating a diverse range of artforms and inputs.<\/p>\n

The premise of designing an interactive street seemed to resonate with West Port, in its interest in the architecture of London, and how the neighbourhoods, textures and sights of the city impact our lives and vice versa \u2013 reflecting elements of this imaginary London street, through the eyes of local children, artists, and guided by West Port.<\/p>\n

This collaboration has resulted in a stunning experiential space which encourages participation, interaction and exploration, amplified by a busy public programme of workshops and events.
\nKarena Johnson, h<\/em>ead of creative collaboration, Barbican<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Project data<\/h3>\n

Start on site<\/strong> July 1st, 2024
\nCompletion date<\/strong> July 31st, 2024
\nGross internal floor area<\/strong> 550m2<\/sup>
\nForm of contract or procurement route<\/strong> Management Contracting
\nConstruction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed
\n<\/sup>Architect<\/strong> West Port Architects
\nClient <\/strong>Barbican Centre
\nProject manager<\/strong> Rachel Harris, Barbican Centre
\nCAD software used<\/strong> Revit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This commission for a pop-up play space in the Curve gallery takes inspiration from the Barbican Art Gallery\u2019s summer exhibition, Francis Al\u00ffs: Ricochets, in which the artist Al\u00ffs celebrates the ingenuity and universality of play. \u00a0 West Port Architects was commissioned to act as lead designer, given the brief of creating an indoor space reflective …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32845,"featured_media":751083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[706],"tags":[1616,3686,100918,1382,58156],"yoast_head":"\nWest Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our Street is a co-designed 3D interactive installation in the shape of a London street, which invites children and families to \u2018play, make and dance\u2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our Street is a co-designed 3D interactive installation in the shape of a London street, which invites children and families to \u2018play, make and dance\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-09T07:13:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-12T07:36:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/08\/05165233\/24007-WPA-AJ-Photo-03crop-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob Wilson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob Wilson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery\",\"name\":\"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-09T07:13:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-12T07:36:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/12806917e77ff2de74f79bac098aac26\"},\"description\":\"Our Street is a co-designed 3D interactive installation in the shape of a London street, which invites children and families to \u2018play, make and dance\u2019\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News & Buildings\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/12806917e77ff2de74f79bac098aac26\",\"name\":\"Rob Wilson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/ed60d01e238ce7e0d3e0737fc651d917\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/48d9a751a55d1fed69daf73efdcee3c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/48d9a751a55d1fed69daf73efdcee3c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rob Wilson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/rob-wilson-2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery","description":"Our Street is a co-designed 3D interactive installation in the shape of a London street, which invites children and families to \u2018play, make and dance\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery","og_description":"Our Street is a co-designed 3D interactive installation in the shape of a London street, which invites children and families to \u2018play, make and dance\u2019","og_url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery","og_site_name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","article_published_time":"2024-08-09T07:13:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-12T07:36:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/08\/05165233\/24007-WPA-AJ-Photo-03crop-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rob Wilson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rob Wilson","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery","name":"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-08-09T07:13:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-12T07:36:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/12806917e77ff2de74f79bac098aac26"},"description":"Our Street is a co-designed 3D interactive installation in the shape of a London street, which invites children and families to \u2018play, make and dance\u2019","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/buildings\/west-port-architects-designs-pop-up-play-space-in-the-barbican-curve-gallery#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"West Port Architects designs pop-up play space in Barbican Curve gallery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/","name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","description":"Architecture News & Buildings","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/12806917e77ff2de74f79bac098aac26","name":"Rob Wilson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/ed60d01e238ce7e0d3e0737fc651d917","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/48d9a751a55d1fed69daf73efdcee3c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/48d9a751a55d1fed69daf73efdcee3c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rob Wilson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/rob-wilson-2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751000"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772994,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751000\/revisions\/772994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}