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The Build Up

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Past
  • Free
  • Festival
Photograph of two young men in conversation, standing in front of a poster exhibited as part of the Living with Buildings exhibition at Wellcome Collection.
Living with Buildings exhibition, Thomas SG Farnetti. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

What you’ll do

Join us to explore the injustices and inequalities created by our relationships with buildings. This will be a day of conversations, performances, workshops and films. Drop in to reflect on the housing crisis, the politics of public spaces, and how all this affects our health, with activists, young people, academics and artists.

Dates

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Past

Past events

  • Discussion
Architecture as Injustice
The Forum
Join experts for a panel discussion to explore the relationship between architecture and injustice in housing, public spaces and courtrooms. With Lynsey Hanley, author of ‘Estates: An intimate History’, Paul Gilbert, anthropologist at The University of Sussex and Meredith Rossner, criminologist at The London School of Economics and Political Science. Facilitated by Insa Koch, Professor of Law and Anthropology.

  • Workshop
Borderline Estate Agents
Viewing Room
Pop in to this imaginary estate agent created by 30 Bird and Public Works to browse the ‘gap sites’ – empty spaces between buildings - in the local area. Come and think creatively about what you’d do with these sites to consider how we can redefine public space in the city. See your ideas come to life in a live drawing session, calculate your cultural credit or sign-up for a tour of some local gap sites.

  • Performance
Mum. Edit. More
Reading Room
Watch a short dance and spoken-word performance by Shannelle ‘Tali’ Fergus about the gentrification of Brixton and then listen to or join in with a discussion with an expert from Black History Walks.

  • Workshop
Social Housing not Social Cleansing
The Studio
Join The Blueprint Theatre Company for art and activism exploring the issues of homelessness, insecure housing and health with housing activists Focus E15, the Housing and Mental Health Network and the Musuem of Homelessness. You can choose to paint a banner, have a chat or take a turn on the open microphone.

  • Workshop
Homesick
Williams Lounge
Come and explore ideas about living in shared spaces with S.P.I.D Theatre. The workshop is inspired by films created by young people about their local estates in Camden, Kensington and Chelsea. Sign up for either workshop from 10:00 outside the Williams Lounge.

  • Performance
Between the Storeys, Live
The Forum
Join Poet in the City for film screenings, poetry and discussion about nightlife and community in Smithfield, and the effect of gentrification on young people’s wellbeing with poets Jacob Sam-La Rose, Kit Finnie and Eleanor Penny.

  • Discussion
Living with Regeneration
The Forum
Come and hear a panel discussion on insecure housing and mental health. The Blueprint Theatre Company have organised this discussion, which features Architects for Social Housing, The Housing and Mental Health Network and Professor of Urban Studies Paul Watt. It will be facilitated by film-maker Tom Cordell.

  • Workshop
The Banquet
Ground floor Atrium
Take a seat at this digital banquet table to explore ideas of homelessness, food and privilege with New Horizon Youth Centre and artist Elaine Duigenan.

  • Workshop
The Daily Route-Teen
Throughout our building
Visit four pop-up installations created by young people from our Raw Minds Ambassadors panel, on the themes of homes, shopping centres, education, and the outside.

  • Discussion
Instant Development
Being Human gallery
View and discuss photographs of the ever-changing areas of Somers Town, Euston, St Pancras and Bloomsbury.

Need to know

Multi-part programme

This is a large-scale event with several different activities, which may include drop-in sessions, scheduled performances, workshops or talks. Check specific activities for details and to see if you need to book a ticket or just show up. Spaces for drop-in activities are limited and may run out if we are busy.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 0 2 0. 7 6 1 1. 2 2 2 2

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