Making It Happen: New Community Architecture 30 January – 29 April 2019

Free entry

RIBA Architecture Gallery, 66 Portland Place, London, W1

How are architects working directly with community groups to create inspiring local buildings and places during times of economic and political austerity?

In this exhibition four immersive installations fill the RIBA’s central London gallery, giving visitors an experiential opportunity to find out more about some of the UK’s new and inspiring community architecture projects. Making It Happen: New Community Architecture tells the stories behind four new public spaces – Hastings Pier, Coniston Mechanics Institute, Old Manor Park Library and Loch Lomond National Park.

Hastings Pier by dRMM in Sussex, England, UK:

photo © Hastings Pier Charity

In the wake of local funding cuts and shifting priorities, private ownership of public buildings and spaces has escalated and alternative approaches to designing and funding spaces for the public realm are emerging. In response, communities have come together to fight to keep buildings open and functioning, mobilising to campaign and fundraise in the face of closure or catastrophe. Current crowd-funding campaigns for public buildings will be featured in the exhibition and visitors will be invited to contribute what buildings or spaces they would like to reinvigorate or create in their local area.

Architects have been challenged to respond to these circumstances by conceiving new ideas for the design or re-design of existing spaces. In the process architects have become both activist and educator, championing the cause and helping to galvanise the support of the local community.

The four projects featured in this exhibition examine the diverse roles that architects have played in working with communities around the UK. Each example demonstrates a pragmatic response, creating flexible public buildings that give scope for further development. All of the selected schemes demonstrate the extensive engagement of the architects, sometimes continuing beyond the finished construction:

• Hastings Pier – designed by dRMM Architects (2016)

• Coniston Institute, Cumbria by Grizedale Arts (2017)

• Old Manor Park Library, East London by APPARATA (2015)

• The Lookout, Loch Lomond National Park by Processcraft (2014)