London Festival of ARchitecture History - 2008 - Fresh

Co-curated with the RIBA, the Festival joined the Exhibition Road Cultural Group to close Exhibition Road to traffic for the first time. Despite an overcast day, a wide range of architectural activities took place both in the street and in the surrounding area. The event demonstrated that such a full closure is possible without significant disruption and that the space created has the potential to be a tremendous public event venue. As part of the programme the Festival brought the Exhibition Road shared surface proposal to the public's attention and allowed solutions for the final Exhibition Road scheme to be tested ahead of its implementation the following year. 

The three-day closure and temporary pedestrianisation of Montague Place highlighted the potential of this street behind the British Museum as a significant public space and reinforced the connectivity between King's Cross/Euston Road and Bloomsbury and the West End. The Sky Walk - a 160m long installation designed by Carmody Groarke - transformed the little known street into an exciting cultural space, hosting exhibitions, talks, theatre, music, games, food and dancing.

Visitor numbers are estimated at 25,000. The event provided a platform to launch the Borough of Camden's public consultation process for Bloomsbury public realm improvements; proposals exhibited on the Sky Walk received overwhelming support and TfL have since committed to fund much of the work, starting with Montague Place. LFA events played a significant role in this process by initiating debate, demonstrating the space's potential and encouraging local support for the Council to take a more creative and radical approach.

Curated by The Architecture Foundation, Southwark Lido saw a derelict temporary lido beside a Southwark railway transformed into bathing and breathing space for the general public, local residents and Festival visitors alike. The project, created and inhabited by French architecture collective EXYZT, demonstrated the potential of using a site in transition from empty lot to new residential and office buildings to create a vibrant point of community and cultural engagement. The Lido provided a sauna, paddling pool, beach huts, sun deck, and bar. During the installation period, the organisers formed links with the local community, providing new event facilities for an extended period of time outside the official Festival opening. Despite challenging weather, the project was embraced by locals, who attributed a drop in anti-social activity to its new amenities, and expressed desire to keep it open throughout the summer. The project offered a highly successful model of activating sites in advance of more traditional developments.

The Architecture Jelly competition was organised by Bompas & Parr, challenging architects to explore the relationship between building design and food. The winning entry was a jelly version of Fresh Flower by Anna Liu (of Tonki Lui), the mobile pavilion the practice designed for the Festival.  The competition attracted designs from the world’s leading architects including Lord Foster, Will Alsop and Rogers StirkHarbour + Partners and the design material, photographs and moulds of the ten shortlisted entries were auctioned online to raise money for Article 25, the official charity for the Festival.

The 2008 edition of the Festival saw a family of temporary pop-up public space furnitures including a sofa, armchair, bookshelf and lamp; for use across London’s rich mix of public spaces, starting at Somerset House. The project by Studio Weave, sought to explore how the space at Somerset House could be activated and used better for those visiting the space, providing moments for rest and play.

Small groups of blind and partially sighted visitors toured five of London's most interesting buildings as part of the 'VocalEyes' tours. The tours brought together architects, building owners and users, blind and visually impaired people, designers, artists, curators and describers and offered an alternative to having a building described by a family member or a friend, where information may not include relevant facts and can be coloured by one particular personal opinion. 

This installation by Tonkin Lui was inspired by a fresh flower, which catches the eye and unfurles to make a sheltered public space, centred around a stage for talks and gatherings. The eleven petals of the installation arched out to create shade and protection, and a stage of conversation and interaction was created for a series of talks, workshops and performances. Over the course of the Festival, the project, travelled across Kensington, Bedfords Square, St Pauls and Canary Wharf. To travel to the next location, the pavilion was disassembled back to its individual components and transported across London. At each new site, the stacked petals were unfurled, assembled, and the fresh flower was again ready for interaction with the public and the surrounding environment.