Festival of Architecture in Edgware 2023
The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) is returning to Barnet for the 20th Anniversary of the Festival with an exciting programme of activity and activations taking place across the borough, throughout the month of June.
This is the second year that Barnet has formed a key Destination within the Festival’s programme and this year will see over 60 events take place across the borough that respond to this year’s theme of ‘Reimagine’.
Building on the success of last year’s Festival programme, this year will continue to showcase Barnet as a cultural destination, championing innovative, creative placemaking and public art. As part of a year-long cycle, LFA engaged with a community of local organisers from across the town centres including architects, artists, and local organisations to be part of the programme.
Barnet Council offered £15,000 worth of grant funding to further support local event organisers via the Barnet LFA Community Fund. Local residents, artists, historians, organisations and more were able to apply for a grant to support new or planned events and activities for LFA2024, on the basis that events were inclusive, clearly benefited Barnet residents, and celebrated architecture and heritage across the borough.
This year will also see Power Out of Restriction (POoR) – a socially minded design practice that focuses on the development of communities through the elevation of young people – collaborating with GPAD – an energetic and thoughtful architecture practice, crafting buildings with a sense of place and purpose – to deliver a transformation project that will revitalise a two-storey sports pavilion located in Copthall Playing Fields.
The reimagined space will invite individuals to share memories and testimonials about their previous engagement with the site through a programme of events throughout the Festival in June. These engagements will provide an understanding of the needs and wants of the community regarding the space and how it can be reimagined in the long-term for a future generation.
London Festival of Architecture events taking place in Barnet include:
- Reimagine Refuse and Junk Model Your City: A family junk modelling session where children will design, craft and build something extraordinary out of everyday junk.
- Community at the Core of Copthall Pavilion: Interventions by GPAD and POoR Collective, the design team behind the revitalisation of the Pavilion, will encourage the wider community to engage with the pavilion in a dynamic and joyful way. The external walls will host flexible interventions and the surrounding fields will be animated by a weekend of celebratory activity.
- Barnet Legends: Architect Edward Crooks – who created the artwork for the Barnet Legends project – will lead a tour that delves into the borough’s rich history, creativity and innovation that informed his research and provided the inspiration for his design.
- Edible Reimagining: Community Wellbeing Garden Launch Party: Discover a new wellbeing space at the Incredible Edible Barnet community food garden outside St John’s United Reformed Church.
- Three Parks Challenge: A Silk Stream tour through three local parks: Meads, Watling, and Silkstream, to explore the local micro-diversity, while explaining how the parks are being reimagined and restored.
- Creative Collage Workshop — Caving Outwards: Reimagining Playful Co-Existence: A creative collage workshop and exhibition exploring the experience of communal spaces in Barnet through collaborative mixed media.
- Reimagining Parks and Open Spaces – Cherry Tree Wood: A walk to rethink how our parks and open spaces can change to address the issues of the twenty first century and beyond.
Cllr Ammar Naqvi, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, Arts and Sports at Barnet Council said: “We’re delighted that the borough of Barnet will be a returning destination for LFA in
2024. The festival is a great opportunity to showcase our architectural heritage in theborough, which defines our unique character. It’s a chance to work with local people and
community groups to amplify the amazing cultural offerings and talent we already have here and attract artists and other cultural contributors to come here. Cultivating culture and arts in our borough is more than just an investment in creativity – it’s an investment in our communities and the local economy.”
The full Barnet programme is available at lfa.london/barnet, where individuals can plan their festival itineraries and book onto events.