Let’s play together

Lovesmith, George; Rasbash, Zoe

Abstract

Throughout 2022-23 Watershed (cultural cinema & creative technology centre) have been working with an architect & socially-engaged artist on plans to adapt their building for the Climate Emergency. Watershed leads within its communities with a proud activist agenda and has set ambitious Zero Carbon 2030 commitments. Housed in a heritage structure where building operations form the majority of it’s carbon emissions, the challenge is immense.
Integral to this endeavour are creative methods for coming together as an alliance of building users, staff, creatives, activists & visitors, demonstrating the value of creative practices (e.g. events, games, storytelling, play, metaphor, gratification, imagination, collective learning, reciprocating, entertaining…)
This is bringing people into partnership to address the challenge, establishing shared understandings of building retrofit principles
This isn’t a purely technical challenge – Indeed the endeavour is intentionally re-framed as transdisciplinary, and inherently creative, because the way things are currently getting done internationally isn’t working and has insufficient urgency.
& because as an arts organization, addressing the climate emergency isn’t only about technical solutions, it’s about collective expression and welcoming people on board.

The practice and research have hinged around:
-a recognition that design proposals are more successful if clients/users/others are invited to invest expertise, understandings, creativities and desires in the processes
-testing the educational value of commoning – mutually engaging those same clients/users/others in design processes
& - a belief in the net gain to society of increased critical design appreciation and a wider-spread ability to contribute to improvements of our built environment.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: Sustainability and health: the nexus of carbon-neutral architecture and well-being. The 56th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association
• Start Date: Nov 30, 2023
• End Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Dec 11, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 12, 2023
• Keywords: Climate Emergency Retrofit, Creative Building Reuse, Green Public Heritage, Socially Engaged Creative Practice
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11177274
• Publisher URL: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/855289738