Papers by Sebastian Messer
Interiors in the Era of Covid-19
PlayToon exhibition and PlayOut at the Holy Biscuit Gallery On Saturday, 19 May, the Holy Biscuit... more PlayToon exhibition and PlayOut at the Holy Biscuit Gallery On Saturday, 19 May, the Holy Biscuit Gallery in Shieldfield, Newcastle upon Tyne will come alive with skaters, BMX riders, free runners and dancers with an event called PlayOut. The PlayOut event, a collaboration between The Biscuit Factory Foundation, Northumbria University and Solar Learning’s Urban Games & Hip Hop Project, will start at 4 pm outside the Holy Biscuit. From 7.30 pm there will be performances and showcases from local skateboarders, BMX riders, as well as free runners, street dance crews and DJs from the Urban Games & Hip Hop project. The young exponents of street sports will be using a mobile half pipe and other props to show off tricks to a backdrop of urban music, dance and art. The PlayOut event will complement an exhibition of photography and video produced with Tyneside’s skaters, BMXers and free runners to document their life and use of urban spaces. The exhibition, called PlayToon, will be exhibited...
Occasional Paper Series
The city, its streets, and its buildings make an ideal playground for skateboarders and freerunne... more The city, its streets, and its buildings make an ideal playground for skateboarders and freerunners. At the same time, the mostly teenage, mostly male participants in those activities are regarded by civic authorities as a problem. That attitude is part of a general antipathy to young people out on the streets, who are often assumed to be causing a nuisance. We present insights from working with skateboarders and freerunners in Newcastle upon Tyne and Tyneside, an urban conurbation in North East England, that reveal the significance that playing outdoors has for these young people. We also show how they value the city and the autonomy, friendships, and feel-good experience they enjoy there. Playing outdoors is a vital, positive part of their lives that cities should embrace.
Skateboarding, BMXing and Parkour all have devoted participants around Tyneside. Through their ac... more Skateboarding, BMXing and Parkour all have devoted participants around Tyneside. Through their activities, the participants re-invent the cityscape. This can bring them into conflict with Civic and commercial interests who perceive them, at best, as a nuisance. Usually they are viewed as a problem - to be dealt with by legal prohibitions, enforced by fines, and by creating public spaces designed to exclude them. The participants, however, often demonstrate strong social ties and a creative and entrepreneurial culture. PlayToon is a glimpse into their world, promoting their place in the city and documenting their Tyneside in 2012
en_counter is an exhibition of mapping and related artwork which provides insights into Newcastle... more en_counter is an exhibition of mapping and related artwork which provides insights into NewcastleGateshead’s geographies. It forms part of a two year research project, supported by Juice Festival, examining how young people understand the city, their place in it, and their vision for the future. The academic team have collaborated with artists Christine Egan-Fowler, Ben Jones, Jessica Dolby and Adam Goodwin to provide mapping workshops in schools and youth groups. The maps from these workshops reveal hidden worlds and perspectives on the city, and have prompted the artistic responses which form this exhibition
A curated exhibition of drawings, cartoons and photography by artists, students and urban explore... more A curated exhibition of drawings, cartoons and photography by artists, students and urban explorers based in the North East
The Northern Architecture Graduate Retention and Development (G.R.A.D.) Programme is a collaborat... more The Northern Architecture Graduate Retention and Development (G.R.A.D.) Programme is a collaboration between built environment graduates seeking relevant experience and employment, community based organisations, architectural practices and schools of architecture in the North East of England. It commenced in January 2010 in response to the economic situation affecting employment opportunities for graduates of architecture and other built environment disciplines in the North East of England. Its participants (known as GRADs) identify problems with design based solutions and how those projects may lead to funded work – either for the graduates or for local practices.
Arts, literature and philosophy mirror the spirit of their times and so too utopian works embody ... more Arts, literature and philosophy mirror the spirit of their times and so too utopian works embody the fears, experiences, aspirations and desires of the people whom imagine them. With reference to literary examples, this paper begins with a description of the themes defining the utopian/ dystopian tradition. It then considers Dr Richard Norton’s 2003 concept of an urban - military condition, which he terms the “Feral City”, in relation to this tradition. It elaborates on the three conditions – economy, security and services – which contribute to societal collapse once a city has become “feral”. These conditions are explained with reference to the social, geographic and political features that define today’s cities.
Over the preceding eight months, the Master of Architecture students at Northumbria University ha... more Over the preceding eight months, the Master of Architecture students at Northumbria University have looked behind the public facade of NewcastleGateshead, reading the rich palimpsest they found there and embracing the appropriation of spaces left hidden in plain sight. The exhibition features proposals by the first year M.Arch students for the ubiquitous exurbia. Through a prolonged interaction with Britain’s first Enterprise Zone, Team Valley Trading Estate, in the year of its 75th anniversary, the projects challenge the current planning orthodoxy. They hint at an inclusive, eclectic and creative built environment which neighbourhood forums could herald… if only we are brave enough. This work is contributing to discussions for a pilot “Local Development Order” to establish planning priorities for the TVTE area. Individual theses by second year M.Arch students represent the culmination of their full-time education. The selected works shown here demonstrate a diversity of interests a...
The built environment comes about through a multitude of decisions and actions, some of which are... more The built environment comes about through a multitude of decisions and actions, some of which are, ostensibly, taken in the public interest. The extent to which any one individual or any particular group feels able to influence those decisions however depends on a wide variety of factors. These include their political, economic, educational and cultural capital, their familiarity with the legislation, policies and language, their ability to engage with officials and increasingly the digital portals that act as ‘gatekeepers’ to political decision-making processes. Often it may be the least enfranchised, and therefore least able to exercise autonomy and influence, who are most affected by their environment. This paper concerns one such group. It documents the “Mapping the Future” pilot project, which seeks to understand young people’s imaginaries and experiences of the built environment. It draws attention to their access to, use of, and ultimately, the degree of influence they can en...
Staged during the 2013 “Love Architecture Festival”, the “we are archiGRAD!” exhibition featured ... more Staged during the 2013 “Love Architecture Festival”, the “we are archiGRAD!” exhibition featured 20 projects undertaken by archiGRAD between 2010 and 2013 and by the 2012 archiGRAD Summer School. The venue was visited by approx. 1200 people during the exhibition.
This new exhibition explores our city through the eyes of young people. Uncover secret and hidden... more This new exhibition explores our city through the eyes of young people. Uncover secret and hidden places and add your own.
The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a... more The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a period of fifty-one years, starting in 1926. It was grade II listed in 1971. However, Portmerion has become a part of western popular culture rather than of mainstream architectural history. Its use as the setting for the cult 1967 television series “The Prisoner” ensures continued worldwide interest and a constant stream of visitors. Williams Ellis’ design methods were empirical, initial designs being adjusted by eye on site in close collaboration with trusted builders. This paper analyses the development of Portmerion as a gesamtkunstwerk; considering the experience of movement through the village as a dynamic composition of shifting vistas, focussing the visitor on a series of constructed views. Through this analysis, Portmerion is revealed as both a manifestation of the architecture of pleasure and an exercise in the pleasure of architecture.
Arts, literature and philosophy mirror the spirit of their times and so too utopian works embody ... more Arts, literature and philosophy mirror the spirit of their times and so too utopian works embody the fears, experiences, aspirations and desires of the people whom imagine them. With reference to literary examples, this paper begins with a description of the themes defining the utopian/ dystopian tradition. It then considers Dr Richard Norton’s 2003 concept of an urban - military condition, which he terms the “Feral City”, in relation to this tradition. It elaborates on the three conditions – economy, security and services – which contribute to societal collapse once a city has become “feral”. These conditions are explained with reference to the social, geographic and political features that define today’s cities.
The city, its streets, and its buildings make an ideal playground for skateboarders and freerunne... more The city, its streets, and its buildings make an ideal playground for skateboarders and freerunners. At the same time, the mostly teenage, mostly male participants in those activities are regarded by civic authorities as a problem. That attitude is part of a general antipathy to young people out on the streets, who are often assumed to be causing a nuisance. We present insights from working with skateboarders and freerunners in Newcastle upon Tyne and Tyneside, an urban conurbation in North East England, that reveal the significance that playing outdoors has for these young people. We also show how they value the city and the autonomy, friendships, and feel-good experience they enjoy there. Playing outdoors is a vital, positive part of their lives that cities should embrace.
For the past eight years my colleagues and I have been working with diverse groups of young peopl... more For the past eight years my colleagues and I have been working with diverse groups of young people, to understand their sense of place and use(s) of the city. Between September 2015 and November 2016 we organised and facilitated a number of workshops utilising participatory mapping techniques. The objective of the workshops was to develop our understanding of how the participants identified with their immediate physical context and with the wider city. This paper documents phase one of the ‘Mapping the City’ project. The paper also describes how participatory mapping techniques have informed my own architectural pedagogy and the practices of some of the students I have tutored.
The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a... more The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a period of fifty-one years, starting in 1926. It was grade II listed in 1971. However, Portmerion has become a part of western popular culture rather than of mainstream architectural history. Its use as the setting for the cult 1967 television series “The Prisoner” ensures continued worldwide interest and a constant stream of visitors. Williams Ellis‟ design methods were empirical, initial designs being adjusted by eye on site in close collaboration with trusted builders. This paper analyses the development of Portmerion as a gesamtkunstwerk; considering the experience of movement through the village as a dynamic composition of shifting vistas, focussing the visitor on a series of constructed views. Through this analysis, Portmerion is revealed as both a manifestation of the architecture of pleasure and an exercise in the pleasure of architecture.
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Papers by Sebastian Messer