A new exhibition at Kingston University’s Stanley Picker Gallery is showcasing over a decade of innovative live-build architecture projects. The immersive exhibition, titled “Under Construction,” features tactile materials, scale models, and reconstructed structures from past community-focused initiatives.
The exhibition is an evolving collaborative architectural project led by Kingston School of Art architecture senior lecturer Takeshi Hayatsu. It highlights 13 years of ambitious live-build projects, including a new live build developed with the 2024-25 March cohort.
The hands-on, community-centered approach to making is implemented within Kingston School of Art’s MA Architecture course as a year-long module. Students gain practical experience in building and designing while studying.
Since 2011, these projects have provided imaginative and resourceful responses to their chosen locations in collaboration with diverse communities around Kingston, Surbiton, Tolworth, and beyond.
Past projects include a 17th-century Japanese wooden Kintaikyo bridge replica and the Woodland Chapel, both constructed from donated materials and showcasing a DIY ethos.
The exhibition will feature a curated selection of these projects alongside a short documentary focusing on Hayatsu’s approach to teaching through making and his community-centered ethos.
Over the course of the exhibition, an entirely new live build will take place at the Kingston-based Stanley Picker Gallery. A temporary rammed earth Shrine and a Sauna on the Gallery’s riverside terrace will be constructed during the exhibition.
A series of workshops and events will encourage visitors to get involved in the live build. The exhibition runs until the end of December.
Image courtesy: kingston.nub.news
