#IHeartPompey, Portsmouth (United Kingdom) 2016
University of Portsmouth
#IHeartPompey is a project promoted by the School of Architecture of Portsmouth in partnership with Portsmouth City Council, and led by senior lecturer and architect Guido Robazza.
The project develops a tactical small-sized co-created temporary intervention in public space bringing together architecture students and the local community. It builds on the assumption that, in cities, there is an abundance of under-used spaces. Encouraging local communities to take ownership of such urban spaces, decide on their use and take action, can at the same time reactivate the public realm through a process of appropriation, improve the quality of public space and define new forms of civic participation.
#IHeartPompey brings together the community of young people from the Brook Club in Somerstown Hub, Portsmouth and the students of the School of Architecture in an attempt to create a playful and inclusive space, a space for socialising and open to welcome different people and allow for their interaction.
The design of #IHeartPompey structure has been led by Richard Williams and Joshua Brooks after winning the student architectural competition “The Odd Triangle” and it is the result of several meetings between the community and the students who worked together and collaborated in the design process. They co-designed the temporary pavilion and built it together in just a few days at the end of May. The project was developed in collaboration with the School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (David Begg and Nikos Nanos). The tiles were produced thanks to the precious help of the Clay Station. The timber was supplied by Totton Timber and Jonathan West of the Whiteland Project.
This public space will ideally become a place with a recognisable character and have a positive social impact in the life of students and local communities.
With the words of David Harvey, the “Right to the City” is “the freedom to make and remake our cities” and this is one of the “most precious of our human rights.”
Client: Portsmouth City Council
Tutor: Guido Robazza
Other Facilitators: Kate English and Jodie Blankson (Portsmouth City Council); Martin Andrews, Roberto Braglia, Plamena Gamzova, Phevos Kallitsis (Portsmouth School of Architecture); David Begg and Nikos Nanos (School of Civil Engineering and Surveying); Dr Charles Leddy-Owen (School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies); Dr Lexie Scherer (School of Education and Continuing Studies); Matt Smith (School of Media and Performing Arts); Jonathan West (School of Media and Performing Arts); Steve Read; Ginny Topp (School of Media and Performing Arts)
Students: Richard Williams and Joshua Brooks (Principal Designers); Benjamin Khor, Sharilyn Woodman, Naomi Cripps, Sam Asiri, Tom Nock, Stephanie Ciqueira Silva, Benny Pereira Franciss, Claudia Stefanoaia, Emilian Arva, Chai Soo, Venkata Ganta, Sin Yun, Marios Neophytou, Ka Lam, Christiana Theocharous, Lucy Clark, Nelly Despoina Pothakou, Ziyan Ni, Alaa Alkandari, Efstathia Palyvou, Maryam Shaharuddin, Isabel Clay, Hasan Almatrouk, Paul Nedelcu, Adriana Jumin, Matthew Whitfield, Toby Thurlow, Callum Gurden, Lucasz Felski
Research Question: The project is part of a wider university research project: “Placemaking and Co-Creation of Temporary Interventions in Public Space – Tools for Urban Regeneration” aiming to monitor the engagement and understand the social impacts of temporary structures built on public realm.
The investigation attempts to measure quantitatively and qualitatively the impact of co-created interventions in terms of engagement and empowerment of the communities, investigating the differences caused in their relationship with the public realm. The methodology, starting from an extended literature review and relevant case studies, develops a comparison between the use and perceptions of the spaces before and after the temporary interventions.
United Kingdom, Architecture, Days, Client-funded, 11-50, Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Temporary, Commissioned, Collaboration, Extra-curricular, Students with researcher, Portsmouth Univ.
