Tutors: Clare Carter, Gill Lambert and Nick Wood

Land of Green Ginger

A research driven studio; people, history, story, politics, crafting and myth are key to the narratives we will explore through the process of making and drawing. We continue our interest in marginalised communities, edgeland conditions and places of change. The post-industrial position; focusing on former industrial strongholds of the North.

HULL 2017

Hull 2017 draws on the city’s distinctiveness and the ambition and dynamism of the North, whilst offering an opportunity to reflect on the nation as a whole
( Martin Green, CEO and Director, Hull 2017 )

Kingston-upon- Hull is a city in the North of England recognised as the 2017 UK City of Culture. The city has reinvented itself as an urban stage to host a national programme of events that focus on the regenerative potential of the creative industries and shine a light on its unique past.

We will use the event as a tool to speculate on the city’s future, and reflect its strong past – maritime location, international port, trade and industry, fishing and dwelling.

The studio will travel to Hull, where we meet with the Hull 2017 creative team and local residents to better understand the planning, impact and legacy of City of Culture.

Investigating the 365 days of transformative culture we start by making an initial mapping of this event employing the themes portrayed by the City of Culture – be it seafaring, literary, manufacturing, sustainable living or migration.

Maps will be a hybrid; experiential and descriptive working across a range of scales. The process will be informed by a workshop with students visiting from University of Helsinki. We will explore new and imaginative ways to “physically document”; expanding the perception and narratives of past/current/future events.

The next step is to make an object, or series of objects, for Hull using techniques that resonate with your emerging thesis. The crafted outputs will exist in a range of scales, including 1:1, to feature in an event – your proposal for a fringe closing ceremony that will be programmed alongside the main Hull 2017 event.

Individual agendas and design projects emerge from our on-site conversations, mappings and making. A thesis be proposed for the post-event city. The focus for the year will be to offer a lasting legacy for the city of Hull and its people.

Our field trip to Helsinki and St Petersburg continues these themes of urban renewal and housing in maritime cities. Including visits to the case studies housing of Alvar Aalto’s Home and Studio and to the Hvittrask Studio.