Hear Us See Us: Disappearing Narratives of Social Housing

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RIBA Constructing Communities Open Call

Selected among top 19 projects to be exhibited at Peckham Levels on June 2016.

Short presentation to be given by us at the RIBA on the 21 of June at 6pm.

 

Team: NG Architects

Collaborators: design studio 22 from the University of Westminster

Location: London, UK.

Dates: 2016.

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The proposed installation aims to encourage community engagement by documenting the narratives of families living in social housing, who are forced to leave their homes due to private development. The installation, being a fragment of a living room, will record the sounds of families; it will print their narratives and display them to be seen. It consist of a feel table (feel and Hearing device), a drawing device (recording narratives and a printed text of the stories to be Seen) and an environmental device. All to address, and raise awareness, of the richness of social housing, being part of the modern history of London and its contribution towards urban richness and inclusivity of London and traces the intangible qualities of life and sound around social housing that is fast disappearing.

 

The Installation consists of :

1- A collective table where sound devices are buried in its surface. Thedevises become active recording the sounds of the families or socialhousing events when the surface is touched and felt.

2- A printing device that prints the details of the sounds or events as you touch/feel the surface of the table (see videos https://we.tl/7Yx34lMMd2)

3- A large drawing device – rising up to 5 meters, which prints the soundsand vibrations of the context, both social events and environmental events or movements of children in playground. The device prints the vibrations of movement of people and environmental condition. These large prints can then be displayed to be SEEN on the large display surface on the wall contain the table

4- A vertical screen, timber or similar contain a water filtration unit and forms a wall to display the large prints of the drawing devise.

 

The installation is also interactive with 2 key elements1. Touching table where sensors trigger audios of everyday housing units2. Printed narratives forming the skin of the installation water filtration system forming part of the skin of the installation as well as a wind sensors all of which contribute to creating ‘traces of narratives.Most of the components of the installation have been built and tested in different scales and format by our practicing research team. The feel table and the drawing device was made and tested during an exhibition at the University of Westminster and in other locations at time with full engagement of community involved on process of building.