Photos: Sonny Malhotra, Sophie Cunningham and Luke O'Donovan
Thank you for a wonderful Open House Festival. Here's what we're planning next!
The 2020 Open House Festival drew to a close last Sunday. After months of preparation to retool the festival for constantly changing guidance, thousands of people were able to take part in building visits, tours and online events, with many more watching our new film series, reading the Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs or making their own Model London skyline at home.
We want to say a huge thank you for all the hard work of our volunteers, event organisers and visitors that created such a enjoyable and safe experience! How did you find our most ambitious Open House Festival yet? Let us know by completing our survey about your experience.
What next for Open House?
Even though the festival is over we're embarking on an ambitious autumn and winter programme including outdoor guided walking and cycling tours running throughout the rest of the year.
We also need your help. Open House doesn't receive government or Arts Council funding and relies on support from individuals like you. If you value our work and the Open House Festival, please support us today to keep going throughout the next phase of the pandemic.
If you value Open House, please support us by becoming a friend of the charity by donating £1.25 a week. Thank you!
WHAT'S ON THIS MONTH
Culture in Crisis? A walking tour exploring the past, present and future of London’s riverside cultural zone
Join Open House for a socially-distanced
Through the lens: City of London photography tour
Join Open House for a socially-distanced photography tour and discover how you can use your camera or phone to create fresh and inspiring new perspectives on the City of London.
Led by acclaimed architectural photographer Grant Smith — member of world-famous architecture imaging agency VIEW — this mid-morning walking tour will examine different ways of observing and photographing the City of London’s ever-changing built environment. (10am tour is sold out)
North London Architecture Cycle Tour
Join Open House for a ‘ride out’ exploring the architecture of North London’s landmark public housing estates on a socially-distanced cycle tour.
Landscape and Landscape Workers: City of London tour with the Landscape Institute
Join Open House for a socially-distanced walking tour discovering the designs and people behind the extraordinary landscaped spaces of the City of London
This fun and engaging walking tour led by expert guide Paul Lincoln — director of creative projects and publishing at the Landscape Institute — will delve into the unique and ever-growing network of small green spaces which frame the modern Square Mile.
OPEN HOUSE FILMS
All summer we've been making a series of original film tours going through the keyhole of special buildings and landscapes all over London led by a mix of residents, architects and storytellers.
These snapshots of some of London's most iconic and beloved locations were released on Saturday 19th September and have already gained over 30,000 views collectively.
Build your own model London skyline at home! The Model London series includes St Paul's Cathedral, Ernö Goldfinger's Glenkerry House, The Hoover Building and The Treasury among many others.
Featured models:
THE OPEN CITY PODCAST
Hosts Merlin Fulcher and Arman Nouri talk about how imagination - such as myths which celebrate our real or fictional past - can transform how we see the city around us, and in turn create better places for everyone.
Joined by guests Robin Hutchinson, director of Community Brain and Chloë Clay, Urban Design Manager at Kingston Council, this episode focuses specifically on Seething Wells, a large former waterworks which played a pioneering role in the delivery of clean drinking water to central London, and was the focus of Jon Snow’s groundbreaking cholera study which created modern epidemiology.
It’s an area next to the River Thames upstream from Kingston which for a long time had been overlooked for its extraordinary history but has now been rediscovered by local residents who have taken its identity into their own hands over the course of several events, workshops and performances - often exploring light-hearted and fictional legends - led by the arts organisation Community Brain.
With lockdown forcing more and more of us to love, treasure and better understand our local areas it’s an ideal moment to reflect on the role imagination could play more widely across London and beyond in building the inclusive, healthy and sustainable city we all strive for.
Find out more about Community Brain here
