Assemble
Artist/Architect Collective – Live and work in the UK
Working across the fields of art, design and architecture, the collective Assemble procures cinemas from old gas stations and builds universally functional workspaces to help connect the public with the process by which public spaces are made. Soon after their formation and architecture studies at Cambridge, the team produced their first cinema at one of East London’s many empty petrol stations. The Cineroleum (2010) operated as a fully functional, ticketed cinema self designed and built using found materials. Despite the limited materials, the space celebrates the ceremony and extravagance of a night at the theatre. Not only is the space a one of a kind art installation; the group demonstrates the benefit of communal beautification for public space. With the success of their first cinema, Assemble produced another screen-related project, Folly for a Flyover (2011) under a canal-side London motorway flyover. Both the construction politics including the conversations with local authorities, and the physical space address local issues and demands. Not only were these politics made public, but participation in the month long assembly was welcomed.
Moving forward from public spaces designed for entertainment, Assemble produced a communal workspace in the yard of their Sugarhouse Studios where they have been operating since 2012. Yardhouse Studios (2014), with square, open plan and adorned with handmade concrete tiles is the prototype for a communal temporary workspace that might be dismantled and re-built anywhere. Their largest community project yet, Granby Four Streets earned Assemble the title of first architecture studio shortlisted by the Turner Prize (2015). Gathering the tenants of a rundown council housing estate to clean up the streets and empty houses, and establish a market, the project proves that if a housing estate can be art, then art can directly better the lives of the community involved.
Artist/Architect Collective – Live and work in the UK
Working across the fields of art, design and architecture, the collective Assemble procures cinemas from old gas stations and builds universally functional workspaces to help connect the public with the process by which public spaces are made. Soon after their formation and architecture studies at Cambridge, the team produced their first cinema at one of East London’s many empty petrol stations. The Cineroleum (2010) operated as a fully functional, ticketed cinema self designed and built using found materials. Despite the limited materials, the space celebrates the ceremony and extravagance of a night at the theatre. Not only is the space a one of a kind art installation; the group demonstrates the benefit of communal beautification for public space. With the success of their first cinema, Assemble produced another screen-related project, Folly for a Flyover (2011) under a canal-side London motorway flyover. Both the construction politics including the conversations with local authorities, and the physical space address local issues and demands. Not only were these politics made public, but participation in the month long assembly was welcomed.
Moving forward from public spaces designed for entertainment, Assemble produced a communal workspace in the yard of their Sugarhouse Studios where they have been operating since 2012. Yardhouse Studios (2014), with square, open plan and adorned with handmade concrete tiles is the prototype for a communal temporary workspace that might be dismantled and re-built anywhere. Their largest community project yet, Granby Four Streets earned Assemble the title of first architecture studio shortlisted by the Turner Prize (2015). Gathering the tenants of a rundown council housing estate to clean up the streets and empty houses, and establish a market, the project proves that if a housing estate can be art, then art can directly better the lives of the community involved.