Store Street's South Crescent - home to The Building Centre and NLA - will be transformed this weekend into a hive of creative activity as part of the Bloomsbury Festival.
Come down and take part in family-friendly, free workshops in which you'll be invited to draw, build, sculpt and photograph Bloomsbury. Hone your architectural drawing skills, help build a giant 3D masterplan, and capture views of the area with a super-sized pinhole camera pod, while listening to vinyl classics from a mobile 'disco trike' built from recycled scrap materials.
Food and drink will also be on offer, with refreshing Thai juices and teas from Busaba Eathai, seasonal treats from the Building Centre Cafe, The Co-operative Food and Store Street Espresso, and a choice of 10 different Adnams' ales at the College Arms beer festival. Store Street's cafes, stores and galleries, fresh from a £5million regeneration, will also be offering a variety of in-store creative activities and exhibitions.
WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES TAKE PLACE SAT 22 AND SUN 23 OCTOBER, 12NOON - 5.00PM
RE-DRAWING BLOOMSBURY (Saturday only)
Participate in an interactive drawing workshop which re-interprets Bloomsbury from a bird's eye perspective, forming part of a collaborative and temporary installation on the windows of The Building Centre on Store Street, run by Mobile Studio (Art + Architecture) and students from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
MAKING MASTERPLANS (Saturday only)
Collaborate with Mobile Studio (Art + Architecture) and students from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL on a giant 3D model which will re-build Bloomsbury as an alternative and temporary masterplan in the centre of the South Crescent.
MAKE YOUR MARK IN BLOOMSBURY (Saturday only)
Take part in Cavendish College’s sculpture workshop and create and take away your own unique casting.
PINHOLE PICTURE POD (Sunday only)
Make like Vermeer and Canaletto and use the Pinhole Picture Pod - a 21st Century camera obscura designed by students from the Architectural Association - to view a live 'photograph' of Bloomsbury and perfect your own sketching skills. Climb inside the pod to sketch your own view of Bloomsbury and then work up your drawing with the help of architectural students, or help use the device to take a giant permanent photograph of the scene unfolding outside.
FACES OF BLOOMSBURY (Sunday only)
Come and help create a photographic installation with images of locals and visitors - led by photography tutors and students of Cavendish College - and take away your own photographic portrait.
LOWER CARBON DRIVE TALK (Saturday and Sunday, 12noon-1.00pm)
Develop your knowledge about how to reduce the carbon footprint of a typical London home through this talk by Andrew Scoones, Director at The Building Centre. Meet at The Building Centre reception.
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE WALK (Saturday and Sunday, 2.00pm-3.30pm)
Discover historic Bloomsbury's newest architecture on this guided walking tour led by Peter Murray, Chairman of NLA - the centre for London's built environment. Meet at The Building Centre reception. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
MAKE YOUR OWN JEWELLERY AND STORAGE SOLUTIONS (Saturday and Sunday)
Artists Isabelle Bricknall, Stacy Darling and Lydia Smith-Aouane will be hosting a workshop creating fun storage solutions from discarded cardboard boxes donated by The Co-Operative Food. These will be adorned with decorations from excess packaging, recycling rather then ending up in land-fill. Jewellery and crocheted bags made from plastic carrier bags will breathe new life into used items.
The Bloomsbury Festival is an entirely free cultural Festival, taking place across the whole of this wonderful part of central London. There are over one hundred local organizations involved in making the Festival happen. For more information visit the Bloomsbury Festival website
