Young City Makers

As part of our Outreach programme, a team from our London studio has been working with Open City as part of the ‘Young City Makers’ programme.

Young City Makers connects architecture practices with primary schools in Lambeth and Tower Hamlets and aims to support creative thinking within the built environment. This year 25 schools took part and the theme was: Making London More Sustainable.

We were partnered with Wyvil Primary in Vauxhall and led two in-school workshops and a trip to help the year 4 students imagine and create their dream neighbourhood.

First Workshop

We kicked off the first workshop in September with the students sketching their dream house. They later worked in groups to place these houses into a neighbourhood, considering what else was needed to make this community function.

The school trip involved a tour around the Africa Centre – a former office block transformed into a cultural hub – and the Tate Modern, to encourage the students to take inspiration from the architecture around us.

Second Workshop

In the second and final workshop that took place this month, we worked in groups to create 3D models of their dream neighbourhoods. The imaginative models included an airport, mosque, and Japanese cultural centre. As well as teaching students about the built environment, we also learned a lot ourselves by seeing the students bring their visions to life.

There will be an awards ceremony at the end of the month where winners from across all the participating schools will be announced. Open City is a charity dedicated to making architecture and neighbourhoods more open, accessible, and equitable.