Imagine a striking moment in your life in London when you were completely present. What could you see, hear, smell and feel? Imagine you will live to be 100 years old; what kind of house would you like to live in?
Penoyre & Prasad have joined forces with engineers Price & Myers and Max Fordham to build ‘At Present’ – an experiential installation triggered by people’s stories of such moments, and ‘Grandma’s House’ – a family drawing and model making workshop arising from the London Festival of Architecture’s theme of ‘memory’.
At Present is a series of colourful, folded paper enclosures where visitors can experience other Londoners’ striking moments; walk through and pause under as precisely projected sound will fill their ears and film will envelop their eyes, recreating moments that tickle the senses and get people guessing which London places they are connected to.
Grandma’s House is a family workshop to explore design through all your senses (touch, smell, sight, sound, telling stories) and use drawing and model making to design the perfect living space for the future.
Our interest in exploring these sensory qualities arises from our experience of designing for people with dementia; when you have less control of your memory, the present moment and your comfort and delight within it becomes critically important. Through this playful installation and model making workshop, we highlight the challenges and opportunities involved in future housing and the multi-sensory qualities of space and our experience in designing housing for people who have dementia.
‘At Present’ installation:
11am – 4pm, Saturday 17th June & 11am – 2pm Sunday 18th June, Rich Mix Square
‘Grandma’s House’ family architecture workshop:
11am – 12.30pm, Saturday 17th June, Rich Mix Centre
Rich Mix is East London’s independent arts venue, bringing together a diversity of cultures and creative disciplines. Once a vast leather factory, it was extended and transformed into a multi-arts venue by Penoyre & Prasad in 2006.
London Festival of Architecture runs from 1 – 30 June and is Europe’s largest annual architecture festival; this year’s events explore the theme of ‘memory’. The festival celebrates London as a global architectural hub, provokes questions about the life of the city, and promotes positive change to its public realm.