THE URBAN WORKSHOP: TRANSPARENCIES AND INTERWEAVING THE CULTURAL FABRIC OF SHOREDITCH

Inspired by Italo Calvino's ‘Invisible Cities’, the Workshop seeks to capture the essence of Shoreditch as a dynamic territory, deeply rooted in its history and cultural foundations, through combining literal and phenomenal transparencies to reflect the layering of the influences present in the area. Through interlocking new spaces and existing site components, the proposal represents the consolidation of the culture-and-site-specific industries and communities. The printmaking workshop is one of the five cities that comprise the making program where users are encouraged to navigate through the translucent and transparent qualities materialised as a series of voids and overlapping spaces that seamlessly provide connections through volumes. A collection of materials with varying degrees of these properties are designed to modulate lighting qualities and cast complex shadows that become spaces. The project aims to give volume to the invisible relationships between multidimensional components and highlight the complexity of a new urban fabric that is represented through activities and materiality.