Dead Spaces and In-between Architecture

Last week whilst walking round London I was pleasantly surprised by this simplicity of this beautifully lit tunnel. Firstly I noticed the internal architecture of the tunnel and somehow the gently changing coloured lights made the tunnel feel safer and accessible. It is also a great example of how litter free spaces make public spaces more desirable to walk though.

On my travels I also visited the amazing 'Architects build small spaces' exhibition at the V&A. I particularly liked the In-between Architecture dwelling by Studio Mumbai Architects. An representation of one of the many 'un-authorised' dwellings built in Mumbai between buildings in unused spaces. This was an extraordinary use of an dead space to create a slim but functional home for 6 people! It felt like a childs play house simply because of the scale and maze like quality of the twisting corridors and the tiny fort like windows.

Both spaces got me thinking on how differently design can be used to make a dead spaces more functional - either through a practical need i.e. somewhere to live or an considered aesthetic approach to make someone more accessible. Does anyone have any more interesting examples?

The week that was - Empty shop ideas meeting

So what a week. We have been busy and busy and a bit more busy. I think this is the week we will look back and realise that it was the week that tipped. Monday was a meeting with everyone at Cardiff Design Festival and it's first planning meeting for 2010. On the same night and at the same time (ish), Igloo regeneration held an open invitation to investigate the wants for a Digital media centre at Roath Basin next to the newly announced BBC studio's.

Tuesday came quickly on Monday's heals with the empty shop ideas meeting. The turn out was great with about 20 people or so. There were loads of ideas and we will be developing these more over the next week or so. Then Wednesday our traditional club night was a bit of a quiet one but we did sign our lives away by registering as a limited company (by guarantee). We are then hoping to apply for Community Interest Company (CIC), which after many months of debate seems to sum us up now and where we want to go in the future. Charity didn't seem to fit neither did just a basic business. Time will tell whether we have to change it again, but for now we are all very excited about what's going on, if not a wee bit tired.


ideas session on Tuesday nights empty shop evening


No room to put anymore ideas down at the empty shop meeting

Wednesday 17th February - Tea & empty shops

hello its wednesday again and if you want to join us we will be downstairs from 7pm so feel free to pop over and say hello. If its a little noisy we will head upstairs to the games room so check there too.

This week we will be planning a visit to Brixton Village to check out what they have created and hopefully we can post some photos for everyone to see. Plus we will be chatting about our 'Communi-Tea' project where we are hoping to organise a lazy afternoon tea crawl in Cathays.

some come along say hello and have a chat

Space-makers and the empty shop movement

One of the popular projects a few ARKees have started to evolve is the idea of taking over empty shops and creating temporary art and theatre based installations to help regenerate and breathe new life into redundant spaces.

It seems this movement is spreading across the UK you have networks springing up like the Space Makers Network whose aim is 'Creating collaborative spaces for work and play' and the offshoot Space Makers Agency who are behind the inspiring Brixton Village project. This is certainly something for us to aim for and well done guys for doing such an amazing job!

WonderCulture Kiosk - This Thursday 3/12

We have been set a challenge to setup a mini ARK space for the Thursday WonderCulture Event at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. This is going to be our first public piece and we are really excited. We are thinking about a small knowledge transfer space or somewhere we can bring a bit of relaxation to people. Hope to see you all there.

Empty Shop Windows

Since our chat last night about taking over empty shop windows and turning them into micro theatre productions which are accessible to the public, i have just come across the following article in the San Francisco Chronicle which tackles the same issue with art installations springing up in empty shops. Its much more inspiring use of the dead spaces and could be a huge benefit to the shop owners and artists alike.

Art in Store Fronts, 989 Market by Paul Hayes