The Three Pavilions Challenge

Celebrating Architecture 2019 with Urban Learners have been holding Architecture workshops this summer for groups of creative school children at three London pavilions; at the Architecture Foundation, Serpentine Gallery and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.  I was fortunate to attend the last two and assist some of the children with their design creations.

Workshop at the Serpentine Pavilion and RCA.
Workshops were held with a variety of age groups from key stage 1 to 4.

The workshops began investigating the pavilions.  The children experimented with drawing, measuring and photographing aspects of the pavilions to understand form, space, scale and proportion.  This knowledge was taken by the children into the studio after lunch, to design and create model pavilions of their own.

Workshop at the Dulwich Picture Gallery and Colour Palace Pavilion.
The workshop kits and materials were developed to match the design and aesthetics of the actual pavilions.  

The days were fast-paced and fun.  The working dynamic of children with architects created an infectious buzz of excitement.  The work-flow focused the children towards the highlight of the afternoon's creative events; designing, building, documenting and presenting their own pavilion.  Everyone came away with a strong sense of accomplishment!

Thanks to Venetia and Neil for organising the events and giving so much creative enjoyment to the school children and grown-ups alike.  Keep an eye on out for their next series of events.