University of East London students present Shed Life community workshop

Ten students from the University of East London present designs for a community workshop that aims to battle social exclusion in Dezeen’s latest school show.

Called Shed Life, the group project forms part of the students’ interior design master’s course. The workshop, which will be built next year, is intended to be a creative space where local people of different generations can collaborate.

School: University of East London
Course: MA Interior Design
Tutor:
Dr Anastasia Karandinou
Students: 
Dalal Abdullah, Omnia Al Temnah, Siclania Barroso, Georgette Ivette Wilthew Estefan, Mohammad Farahani, Maria Gradinar, Sonia Nohemy Medina Munoz, Atefeh Sargazi, Cherine Shawa, Gozde Tuncbilek, Teinane Chibuike Jesse Warekuromo and Yesim Yumrutas

School statement:

“Design of any scale responds to – and in parallel leads – cultural, political and social change. Our MA course examines the role of design in forming places, connections, communities in a socially and environmentally sustainable way, through speculative and pragmatic design exercises, some of which lead to real-life built projects.”

University of East London

Shed Life community workshop 

“UEL MA Interior Design students have codesigned a community workshop to battle social exclusion. The UEL MA Interior Design Urban Livingroom Studio, led by Dr Anastasia Karandinou, collaborated with the Thames View Tenants Association and the Humourisk artistic director Susie Miller Oduniyi on the Shed Life project.

“This is a community workshop and meeting space, to be built next year. The Urban Livingroom Studio designed the interior of Shed Life as a space for creation and collaboration between local people of different generations.

“Design has been considered as a practice that both pragmatically and metaphorically addresses everyday social and political issues. The aim of this project was to raise awareness on the issue of social exclusion, isolation and loneliness, and actively empower the local community of Barking by designing this space, with them at the centre of the process.

University of East LondonShed life is a codesigned community workshop that intends to tackle social exclusion

“The main activities to be hosted include a wood workshop, space for seminars, knowledge and skills exchange for small groups, computing and photography workshops, gallery wall, storage of some of the relevant equipment and tea and coffee making facilities. The interior involves elements that are flexible, removable and can be flat-packed.

“The users of this small space can transform it themselves into a gallery with exhibition walls for artwork, into a workshop with shelves and worktop surfaces, or into a more relaxed meeting place for them to share a tea.

“This project is part of an ongoing research and community engagement project aiming to battle loneliness and social isolation by designing and creating a place that welcomes collaboration, creation and interaction between locals. The project was developed in collaboration with a group of locals, with whom online and in-person workshops and consultations were organised.

University of East LondonShed Life is a collaborative project as part of the students’ MA Interior Design course

“The exterior shell of the building was designed by the UEL MArch students, led by Alan Chandler. The project is being developed in partnership with the Thames View Tennants association, the Humourisk and its director Susie Miller Oduniyi.

“It is supported by the following funders: National Lottery, Healthy New Towns and Thames Talk (Barking Riverside London), London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Trust For London, Creekmouth Preservation Society, Barking and Dagenham Giving. All the students involved received the UEL Volunteering and Civic Engagement Award for their work on a meaningful and valuable for the local community real-life project.

“For further information visit the university’s website.”

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the University of East London. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here

https://www.dezeen.com/2021/08/08/shed-life-community-workshop-university-east-london-school-show/

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