This commission for a pop-up play space in the Curve gallery takes inspiration from the Barbican Art Gallery’s summer exhibition, Francis Alÿs: Ricochets, in which the artist Alÿs celebrates the ingenuity and universality of play.
Source:Jesse Olu Ogunbanjo
West Port Architects was commissioned to act as lead designer, given the brief of creating an indoor space reflective of the places in which we play and explore.
This temporary space in the form of a familiar London street, consists of 3D interactive built structures and 2D graphics, intended to prompt a visual and sensory experience as you move through the Curve space.
Source:Jesse Olu Ogunbanjo
The show was co-designed with a range of community partners, local schoolchildren and London artists. A series of programmes is scheduled through August.
Our Street is open until Friday 23 August.
Source:Jesse Olu Ogunbanjo
Architect’s view
We were commissioned by the Barbican Centre to recreate the London street to facilitate play – whether through ball games, group play or solo play – with London as a backdrop. In tandem with the children-focused Barbican Art Gallery’s Francis Alÿs: Ricochets exhibition, currently on at the Barbican Art Gallery, our show is a space that encourages people to touch, feel and explore as they wish, with a mixture of 2D and 3D prompts focusing on play.
As lead designers, we worked closely with St Luke’s Primary School near Old Street, co-designing the space together. Their invaluable input has helped shape the look and feel of the street and it was our privilege to bring their ideas to life. The show is only open during August and, with a limited budget and time, we wanted to create something that was both impactful, fun and relatively low-fi in our representation of the London street, zoned into Tourist, Neighbourhood and Park.
This meant being selective in the 3D elements for the most impact, using available stock from the Barbican Centre. Anything built for the show will be reused for future shows and exhibitions. Key to the design is designing through the eyes of children. This includes everything from the heights of our shopfronts to the mix of colours and tactility of the surfaces. Though primarily for schoolchildren, it is for all ages and a place where people are encouraged to linger and engage.
With the help of many talented local artists, game and designers, this is West Port’s love letter to London, the greatest city in the world, through the lens of a child.
Shaun Ihejetoh, director, West Port Architects
Source:Jesse Olu Ogunbanjo
Client’s view
Led by Barbican’s Creative Collaboration team, the intention with Our Street is to create an inclusive, fun and welcoming space for families and young people to explore (and re-discover) the joy of play over the summer.
We were excited to partner with West Port not only because of the quality of its projects and its interest in working with cultural institutions, but importantly, because of the practice’s openness to creating something new through collaboration, integrating a diverse range of artforms and inputs.
The premise of designing an interactive street seemed to resonate with West Port, in its interest in the architecture of London, and how the neighbourhoods, textures and sights of the city impact our lives and vice versa – reflecting elements of this imaginary London street, through the eyes of local children, artists, and guided by West Port.
This collaboration has resulted in a stunning experiential space which encourages participation, interaction and exploration, amplified by a busy public programme of workshops and events.
Karena Johnson, head of creative collaboration, Barbican
Source:West Port Architects
Project data
Start on site July 1st, 2024
Completion date July 31st, 2024
Gross internal floor area 550m2
Form of contract or procurement route Management Contracting
Construction cost Undisclosed
Architect West Port Architects
Client Barbican Centre
Project manager Rachel Harris, Barbican Centre
CAD software used Revit
