The RIBA backs Beyond The Box's People's Pavilion 2023

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) backs Beyond the Box’s People’s Pavilion 2023.

The People’s Pavilion is an award-winning cultural placemaking programme run by Creative Practice Beyond The Box CIC, it seeks to engage the next generation of young place-makers and emerging cultural producers, forging the connection between those who design and programme space.

The programme empowers young people to design and build a temporary pavilion that embodies and discovers what it means for young people to take up space in their city, whilst inspiring a generation of young designers, makers, and creatives.?

The design competition invited young people 14-18 years of age from across East London, to work collaboratively as part of a small team, and in partnership with professionals from the architectural, construction, and creative arts industries, to design their own temporary pavilion.

Seven teams from seven East London boroughs and their design went on display in February, inviting the public to vote for their favourite. After the votes closed the winning design was revealed, with Roots of Heritage, designed by team Cultural Maze, consisting of Bruno De Marco (18), Tomi Balogun (18), and Zhané Phillips (18), having won over the public with their pavilion concept design. The three young aspiring architects and designers from the East London Borough of Tower Hamlets designed their pavilion to be made of renewable and recycled materials, as was their exhibition model which the public voted on.?

The team will not only see their pavilion design brought to life in the grounds of Lea Bridge Library in Leyton later this summer, but they have also won an all-expenses study trip to the opening of the Venice Biennale in Italy, to experience the British Pavilion, curated by Meneesha Kellay , Joseph Zeal-Henry , Jayden Ali and Sumitra Upham . The study trip has been kindly sponsored by Karakusevic Carson Architects .

As part of the wider programme we have designed a continued development programme for all the participants and other young Londoners to engage with throughout the summer, working with multiple architectural practices across the Capital. The programme will see Beyond The Box working in collaboration with industry professionals, practices and freelance creatives to provide a fantastic array of opportunities, including writing workshops with Make Architects , site visits with Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and Haworth Tompkins , Reverse Crits with dRMM and workshops with Morris+Company are all planned.

New for 2023, The People’s Pavilion includes a New Founders Programme, which provides start-up support for young entrepreneurs through paid commissions, mentoring and business support through collaborative practice.

Beyond The Box is working in collaboration with Ourspaceuk , a new social enterprise lead by Architect Max Mackay and Architectural Part 1 graduate Daniel K Poku-Davies , to deliver a dynamic programme of opportunities for young people interested in architecture and the creative arts.

Collectively, both organisations are working with architectural practices and creative freelancers to deliver a series of spring/summer skills workshops, site visits, events, work experience placements and more.?

?Daniel and Max, new founders of Social Enterprise Our Space said,

“We are thrilled and immensely grateful to the RIBA championing our Discover Series of events in partnership with Beyond The Box. Their generous support will not only enable us to carry out our mission of nurturing the next generation of talented designers, but also empower us to bring innovation and excellence to the forefront of the creative industry. We deeply admire the Institute's unwavering commitment to cultivating and supporting emerging talents, and we're honoured to be part of the architectural community that it serves. Thank you, RIBA for investing in our work and believing?in our vision. We can't wait to collaborate with you and continue?making a positive?impact that will resonate for generations to come”.

The Local Initiative Fund is a strategic investment by the RIBA to develop programmes and events that reflect the needs of our extensive network of member-led branches, chapters, and groups. This project is supported by the East London Architects Group.

Dian Small , London Regional Director said,

?“Being able to support our local London groups and the partners they work with is one of the ways in which we can collaboratively support young people’s routes into the architecture profession. The programme which Beyond The Box and Our Space have designed, working with multiple RIBA charted practices is true collaboration in action”. ?

Neil Onions – Founding Director of Beyond The Box said,

“It’s never lost on me the level of collaboration and support that programmes like our People’s Pavilion need for us to be able to deliver with such impact. The RIBA has been a supporter of the project since its inaugural year in 2021. We are extremely proud to call them our supporters and partners. A huge thank you goes out to the practices and partners that have made the project such a such to date”.

The programme is kindly supported by Morris+Company who are a host venue for the monthly workshops that Our Space will be delivering in their Hackney, East London Studio. ?