Utopia to me, would be a world where humans and nature live in harmony. A world where instead of destroying it, we work hand in hand together to make a better place in the future. A world free from judgement and violence. A world filled with love and joy.
What happens when you invite people with experience of homelessness to design and create models of their ideal world?
St John’s has a long association with homelessness and with its own visionary £5.2 million restoration project underway, we thought that people affected by homelessness should also have an opportunity to work with architects to consider what makes for a perfect place.
So we invited Accumulate, the Art School for the Homeless, along with their sponsors, architecture firm Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) appointed as the lead architects for the forthcoming major redevelopment by HB Reavis of Elizabeth House behind Waterloo Station, to put together the Utopia project with us.
From April to June 2022, some 46 Accumulate students (adults of all ages) attended weekly workshops where they were supported by AHMM to conceive, design and create models of their personal utopias. The students also had input from music, textile, visual arts and creative writing tutors for an all-encompassing creative learning and exhibition experience.
The project has revealed hidden talents and forged new understandings between all involved and for some students has resulted in fully-funded scholarships to study on Access to Higher Education courses in Fine Art, Design and Digital Media, and Fashion at Morley College.
With Utopia we were reversing the norm when it comes to deciding what a new world should look like. Our students, often the least likely to have a choice about their environment, were on an incredible creative learning journey, fully involved and taught by experts. The results show what can be achieved through working together in partnership.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’ first collaboration with Accumulate students was an architectural drawing workshop in May 2020. Because of Covid, these were short videos on WhatsApp - but the sense of taking part together was powerful. Following this, we took part in Accumulate’s Train the Trainer programme, providing hostel support workers with skills and materials to create architectural environments that they could pass on to people living in temporary accommodation whose isolation was exacerbated by lockdown. Inspired by these powerful engagements, we chose Accumulate as our 2022 AHMM London Charity of the Year. We’re delighted to have collaborated on ‘Utopia: a new world for all’ and to be funding one of the scholarships at Morley College.
Utopia is typical of the sort of project St John’s will be doing a lot more of in the future - using our building and bringing charity, community and commercial partners together to respond to need. Utopia has built new relationships, revealed new creative talents and opened up new futures. We have all benefitted.
The Utopia workshops have been funded by generous grants from The Foyle Foundation and Arts Council England. The exhibition has been sponsored and designed by AHMM and HB Reavis has provided invaluable space to store materials and all the artwork and models created each week.
Watch videos from the workshops and others of Accumulate students talking about their utopias here. (Photography: CHEZCHRISSS)
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