Shiro Muchiri, Founder of curated gallery and consultancy SoShiro, delves into the details of the pioneering and collaborative initiative Art in Architecture.
“Since childhood I’ve been fascinated by the relationship between architecture and people. I have strong memories of experiences growing up and how spaces made me feel, how I connected to them, and the impact they had on me. This focus on the intersection of architecture, people and place has continued throughout my study and career, and along the way, I discovered how integral art is at these intersections.
As an interior architect and art curator, I’m excited to have created SoShiro, a space to collaborate with development stakeholders and communities, and to support them in creating meaningful ties through art and creative processes.
At SoShiro, we’ve joined forces with development consultants Mood and Space – founded by Hanna Afolabi – to pursue our combined passion of utilising art to ensure development is inclusive and progressive in its approach. Art in Architecture is our consultancy service which aims to stimulate the economic and social capital of development in a way where everyone benefits.
During London Festival of Architecture earlier this year, we brought together three developers and designers who had successfully used art as a tool in regeneration and placemaking.
The first example – by Poplar HARCA and EcoWorld London with Jan Kattein Architects – highlighted how art was employed as a process during a wider regeneration project in Poplar, East London. The brief sought to ‘connect the dots’ by creating an overarching narrative for existing and new communities around Aberfeldy Street. Working with a collaborative team, artistic intervention, creative programming and holistic support was used to strengthen community interaction and boost local enterprise.
Our second example was by General Projects with BGY Architects at Technique, an ambitious retrofit project in Clerkenwell. Here, innovative creative processes were used to express cultural, social and environmental themes through a collaboration with celebrated artists Formafantasma. The resulting gallery-like space acts as a site-specific art installation offering a public face to the local creative community, and feels unique to its neighbourhood.
And finally, on a much larger scale, we heard from Related Argent and IF_DO about their joyful substation enclosure at the emerging Brent Cross Town development. Designed in partnership with artist Lakwena, Here We Come Here We Rise shows where art can meet architecture as an uplifting community beacon. This commission by Related Argent is the latest aspect of their longstanding commitment to including site-specific public art in the creation of new places.
Art in Architecture aims to tap into these transformative qualities that art can have on place, and use art interventions and creative processes to build trust between development stakeholders and resident communities.
Early interaction is key to creating inclusive and welcoming places that weave into existing narratives. Art and arts-based activity is powerful because it transcends barriers of age, language and culture to create recognition.
Our work is organised into stages to support development stakeholders, starting with a strategic vision. We actively listen to understand the future aims and aspirations of the place – considering existing and incoming communities – and explore opportunities to create social, cultural and economic value through art.
Developing a brief for artistic intervention involves identifying possible locations for physical structures – always integrated with architecture and landscape – and of course agreeing a budget and timescale.
Only then do we start considering potential artist collaborators and creative partners. At this point it’s our job to create an informed brief for selected artists, review their ideas and create a shortlist to present to stakeholders. We work to platform emerging artists from diverse backgrounds who we feel will best connect with the brief and locality.
The more practical stages involve developing the selected idea into a deliverable art piece, and integrating into the existing planning and construction programme. As well as logistics and installation, we consider maintenance as another key issue to ensure the artwork has long-term value.
Finally, we work to find opportunities around creative programming with local partners to keep conversations live and amplify social value for the long term. We believe art is something that should be experienced and interacted with, not just looked at.
Measurement of the long-term social and economic benefits to building trust and understanding between development and local stakeholders can be seen through resident/tenant satisfaction surveys, strong local identity, cohesion between new and old and access to enterprise and opportunity.
We truly believe that considered Art in Architecture has the power to create value, shape future heritage and build representation in communities.”
W: soshiro.co | IG: @so.shiro
