Publica Volunteers with Young City Makers to Empower Westminster Students in City-Making
May – June 2024
Publica has recently volunteered with Open City’s ‘Young City Makers’ programme, working with pupils from primary school in Westminster to re-imagine Marble Arch as a child-friendly public space. This project was supported by the John Lyons Charitable Trust.
Open City is an educational charity which empowers communities to learn about, experience and have a role in shaping places where they live. Their ‘Young City Makers’ programme addresses the lack of creativity in current academic education in the UK and aims to support children and young people from under-represented communities to learn about and pursue careers in city-making. For 70% of the children who take part, the
Over two months, Publica team members Gaia Crocella, Jemima Ashton-Harris, Ollie Riviere, and Director Anna Mansfield, ran three design workshops with a brilliant class of enthusiastic Year 4 students, designed to show what it means to shape the city they inhabit, fostering their sense of belonging in their area, and give confidence in the importance of their voice. They were asked to re-imagine how to make their local area greener, more sustainable and fun, through a series of collaborative discussions and 3D model-making sessions with the goal to design a city where they would like to live in the future.
During the first workshop, students were asked to think about their local area and imagine new ways to improve it. Anna, Gaia, and Jemima introduced Publica and shared some key projects to help the students understand the nature of our practice and how we aim create sustainable spaces. The students discussed what sustainability meant to them and then drew maps of their journey from home to school, noting their experiences along the way. Using these initial drawings, the students designed a fantasy route which improved their journey to school.
A selection of drawings by students of their dream walk to school.
In the second workshop, the students took a virtual walk around Marble Arch, reflecting on their feelings about the space and identifying areas for improvement. Divided into teams focused on community pavilions, water features, biodiversity, play areas, seating and shelter, and bridges, the students began to reimagine Marble Arch as the greenest, most child-friendly square in London and sketched their designs.
During the third and final workshop, the students reconvened in their teams to create 3D models of their improved Marble Arch designs. This involved making decisions about dividing the space, modelling major elements of their vision, and detailing finer aspects. The students were incredibly innovative, energetic, and creative, producing fantastic work.
“Young City Makers has been a crucial programme for Publica to be a part of, bringing forward the idea of making child-friendly cities, and child-friendly thinking. The children acted as clients, imagining a future they would want to live in.
Hearing the children’s observations when mapping Marble Arch was important and insightful to us as designers, and adults. This experience has been incredibly rewarding to have so much positivity and energy in the room. The students’ joyful attitude to work made a significant impact on our whole team.”
– Gaia and Jemima, Publica.
At the end of the programme, a shared celebration event at Westminster City Hall attended by the Mayor of Westminster, which brought teachers, students, parents and practices together to honour the student’s achievements. The students’ final models were showcased for all attendees, and a live presentation of their project proposals was held, developing their public speaking skills.
Our primary school’s collaborative proposal, ‘Re-Imagining Marble Arch’ was awarded First Place for being the best Open Space and the most Child-Friendly.
Thank you to Sarah Phillips, Siân Evey-Arli, and the rest of the Open City team for organising this year’s programme and all of your work on this important project.
Young City Makers Awards Ceremony photographs by Zafir Ameen.
News ⋅ July 2024
See more
Publica Volunteers with Young City Makers to Empower Westminster Students in City-Making
May – June 2024
Publica has recently volunteered with Open City’s ‘Young City Makers’ programme, working with pupils from primary school in Westminster to re-imagine Marble Arch as a child-friendly public space. This project was supported by the John Lyons Charitable Trust.
Open City is an educational charity which empowers communities to learn about, experience and have a role in shaping places where they live. Their ‘Young City Makers’ programme addresses the lack of creativity in current academic education in the UK and aims to support children and young people from under-represented communities to learn about and pursue careers in city-making. For 70% of the children who take part, the
Over two months, Publica team members Gaia Crocella, Jemima Ashton-Harris, Ollie Riviere, and Director Anna Mansfield, ran three design workshops with a brilliant class of enthusiastic Year 4 students, designed to show what it means to shape the city they inhabit, fostering their sense of belonging in their area, and give confidence in the importance of their voice. They were asked to re-imagine how to make their local area greener, more sustainable and fun, through a series of collaborative discussions and 3D model-making sessions with the goal to design a city where they would like to live in the future.
During the first workshop, students were asked to think about their local area and imagine new ways to improve it. Anna, Gaia, and Jemima introduced Publica and shared some key projects to help the students understand the nature of our practice and how we aim create sustainable spaces. The students discussed what sustainability meant to them and then drew maps of their journey from home to school, noting their experiences along the way. Using these initial drawings, the students designed a fantasy route which improved their journey to school.
A selection of drawings by students of their dream walk to school.
In the second workshop, the students took a virtual walk around Marble Arch, reflecting on their feelings about the space and identifying areas for improvement. Divided into teams focused on community pavilions, water features, biodiversity, play areas, seating and shelter, and bridges, the students began to reimagine Marble Arch as the greenest, most child-friendly square in London and sketched their designs.
During the third and final workshop, the students reconvened in their teams to create 3D models of their improved Marble Arch designs. This involved making decisions about dividing the space, modelling major elements of their vision, and detailing finer aspects. The students were incredibly innovative, energetic, and creative, producing fantastic work.
“Young City Makers has been a crucial programme for Publica to be a part of, bringing forward the idea of making child-friendly cities, and child-friendly thinking. The children acted as clients, imagining a future they would want to live in.
Hearing the children’s observations when mapping Marble Arch was important and insightful to us as designers, and adults. This experience has been incredibly rewarding to have so much positivity and energy in the room. The students’ joyful attitude to work made a significant impact on our whole team.”
– Gaia and Jemima, Publica.
At the end of the programme, a shared celebration event at Westminster City Hall attended by the Mayor of Westminster, which brought teachers, students, parents and practices together to honour the student’s achievements. The students’ final models were showcased for all attendees, and a live presentation of their project proposals was held, developing their public speaking skills.
Our primary school’s collaborative proposal, ‘Re-Imagining Marble Arch’ was awarded First Place for being the best Open Space and the most Child-Friendly.
Thank you to Sarah Phillips, Siân Evey-Arli, and the rest of the Open City team for organising this year’s programme and all of your work on this important project.
Young City Makers Awards Ceremony photographs by Zafir Ameen.
News ⋅ July 2024
See more