Calling all architecture practices in England! We all know that architecture as an industry feels closed off to many people, and that more diversity would create better places. The barriers pop up early, not least at school where funding for arts education has been decimated in the last 12 years. English state schools have lost 15,000 teachers of creative subjects. And as a result, young people are often blocked from exploring their creativity in the first place. This is why we've co-designed a programme with young people called ‘In the Making’. The idea is to help 10–14-year-olds recognise their own creativity and, in turn, see the different routes that can lead to a career in any creative industry. We have already run the programme with 230 young people, and 600 more will take part over the next three years. Watch the video, which brings these workshops to life. If you work for one of the UK’s 6,000 private architecture practices, you could run this programme yourself. It’s open source, free to use and easy to adapt. Perfect when there's not a lot of time or money. Every single resource you need to get started can be found via the link in our bio and downloaded in seconds. And if each studio in the country did just one workshop per term with a local school, it would bring creative education to 540,000 young people every year. A lot of practices do some great work already. Just think what we can do as a sector. So please get involved and let us know if you have any questions. https://lnkd.in/eKhX58cp
All very good stuff and a great way to encourage interest and focus on the creative arts including architecture and design at school age. The but… remains accessibility and affordability to do a long degree course like architecture at University. The cost is undoubtedly a barrier to improving diversity and equality for many in a less privileged and lower income bracket. I know I could not afford to have taken up architecture without a grant to cover living costs never mind fees. It feels that architecture remains a subject matter for the more privileged in society especially along with such an under appreciation of what we do as architects, a very poorly paid profession compared to many other out there yet with significant and increasing levels of responsibility. So yes encourage the new generation and make the creative arts more visible at school age but let’s also make a more affordable and accessible route to get there post school age and promote also the value of what we as architects and designers bring and do. The world would be a very dull place without creativity, art and culture.
Such a fan of this approach!
Let us know if you want us to share this to our audience Heatherwick studio 👏
Dorys M.
1mo
Love it. Generosity, love and values it is needed in the industry, it so nice to know someone is doing something.
Kevin Lloyd
3w
This sounds a super initiative. Now to add pressure at governmental level, to ensure that these creative opportunities don’t disappear from secondary education, cultivating the innovative, and preserving the flow of talented young people into the UK creative industries.
Milos Petkovic
1mo
Concept is universal and overall it's a fantastic idea. A lot of time and effort went into this. Thank you. I wish I had the opportunity to get into architecture from about 12 years old or even before. Are there any objections to this programme being explored outside UK?
If you start at an early age you will be amazed at their hidden talents.
Gordon Rodger
1mo
Such a great initiative. Great work guys. 👏
I would open a London office just to join this.
Architectural Designer - Creative - Connector - Educator - Space Architect in training...
1moNothing has frustrated me more about studying architecture than the absolute disassociation and disconnect from the people that use the built environment…even architects “language” is isolating. I love this 🙏 let’s all say and do what we mean ❤️