PROJECTS
20 VACANT LOTs, London
1 VACANT LOT,London
VACANT LOT@ Louis Vuitton, London
GREENING ROMFORD RING ROAD, London
FOOD FACTORIES, London
PLANT ROOM
, London
EXTENSION
, London
OUT-POST, Liverpool
SIT IN
, Liverpool
HATFIELD
, Slough
THE TRAVELLING SHED
, Surrey
MOBILE STAGE
BERMONDSEY SQUARE, London
SHRINKING CITIES
, Liverpool
FACING EAST
, London
ROOF GARDEN
, London
REFURBISHMENT
, Germany
PRODUCE, London



TEACHING/RESEARCH

PUBLIC WORKS, London - Marseille
FACING EAST, London - Istanbul
SUBVERTING THE REAL
, Portsmouth
PLUG IN
, Liverpool - Berlin
PLACES OF UNCERTAINTY
, Liverpool - Berlin
PLACED IN BECKTON
, London
PLACES OF UNCERTAINTY
, Sheffield
MODESTY SCREENED, London



INFORMATION

CONTACT
PROFILE
EXHIBITIONS
PUBLICATIONS
AWARDS

 

WHAT IF: projects Ltd

What if: projects are an East London based art and architecture practice established in 2005. Our work focuses on urban sustainability and new ways of implementing ideas and strategies through engaging communities. Over the past few years we have initiated and realised various site-specific projects that are responsive to culturally diverse inner city neighbourhoods. In addition we are researching void spaces and the opportunities these spaces could offer to a neighbourhood, a city and beyond.

The What if team have extensive experience in managing and delivering architecture projects and urban interventions at varying scales. We bring creativity, critical thinking and a vision to the projects we are involved with. In collaboration with regeneration agencies, local authorities, art organisations, urban research bodies and the public, we have developed strategies and environmental improvement projects that are responsive to the location, are useable and are engaging. We have realised various site specific projects in Liverpool, London, Slough and Surrey that address the possibilities of urban food and energy production, alternative transport mechanisms and the need for accessible public space. We aim to communicate our strategies through delivering small-scale interventions that
are visually clear, usable and playful. We believe that the active involvement of local communities in the process of change is crucial in developing sustainable urban regeneration.


 
TEAM
 
Gareth Morris
Dip. Architecture, UEL
Architect ARB
Ulrike Steven
Dip. Architecture, UEL
Architektenkammer, NRW, D
   
 
Liam Morrisey
RIBA part I
Architectural Assistant
 
 
COLLABORATORS:
 
Flora Gathorne-Hardy, Topio Ltd (landscape architect)
Ellie Howitt, A&E (artist)
Inge Clemente (photographer)
Heidi Rustgaard (choreographer)
 
PROJECT PARTNERS AND CLIENTS:

London Borough of Havering
Design for London
Family Mosaic
Circle 33 Housing Trust
Southern Housing Group
Newlon Housing Trust
Camden Housing Group
Homes for Islington
Groundwork London

London Festival of Architecture
Sustain, London
Love London
h2dance
Shoreditch Trust, London
Groundwork East London
Include Regeneration Ltd, Liverpool
Metal Space, London
Shrinking Cities, Berlin
Arch+, Berlin
Slough Borough Council
Surrey Arts

EXHIBITIONS:

2008-2010 Actions: What You Can Do With the City
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Canada
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago

2009 Gartenstadt, Kunst und urbane Gärten (Garden city, art and urban gardens)
Kunstverein, Hildesheim, Germany


February - April 2009 part of Carrot City
Exhibition at Chalmers Design Centre and Teknion Lounge (Design Exchange), Toronto,

2008 FACING EAST exhibition of Images, drawings and models from Istanbul, with Unit F, University of East London, AVA Gallery

2007/2008
IDENSITAT 07 - documentary project
23.11.07 SIT IN presentation at Santa Monica arts centre, in Barcelona, Spain
22.02.-30.03.08 SIT IN exhibition in Mataró, Spain

2005-2008 SHRINKING CITIES touring exhibition
2005 Deutsches Architekturzentrum in Berlin
2006 Gallerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst-Leipzig
2006 Pratt Manhatten Gallery, New York
2007 Cranbrook Art Museum, Detroit
2007 Cleveland, Ohio
2007/2008 Site Gallery, Liverpool
2008 Duisburg

2006 Placed in Beckton with Unit F
AVA Gallery, UEL Docklands Campus, London

2006 The travelling shed
as part of Garden Journeys exhibition, Polsden Lacey

2006 Small Change with Unit F, UEL
Tab Centre, Hackney, London

2006 Legwork/Hatfield
Slough Museum

2005 Willkommen in Wädenswil
Bus terminal competition, Wädenswil town hall, CH

2004-2005 Living in Superbia as part of Europan 7 exhibition
2004 Pärnu, Estonia
2005 Café Moskau, Berlin

2001-2002 What is sustainability?
as part of RIBA Urban sustainability exhibition
2001 RICS, Edinburgh
2002 Cube Gallery, Manchester

  PUBLICATIONS:
 

Architecture of Change 2
Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment (2009)

Paisea
Landscape Architecture Review, no. 009: Public Square
cult landsapce: what if... (2009)

Spacecraft 2
More Fleeting Architecture and Hideouts (2009)
Vacant Lot features on page 93


Actions:
What you can do with the the city
Canadian Centre for Architecture (2008)

Surviving the Suburb

publication by Gregor Harbusch, Martin Luce, Ton Matton, Wim Timmermans
Rotterdam 2008
ISBN 978-90-5973-090-8

Shrinking Cites
Volume 2: Interventions (2005)
“Cow the udder way”

Europan 7 Europe
„Living in Superbia“
(2005)

  PRESS:
  VACANT LOT
2008 BBC Country Files, summer 2008
2008 D2, Dagens Naeringliv, Norway
2008 Metro, Monday, June 23, 2008 "Baggin a bumper crop"
2008 Time Out, listings (events)
2008 Times 28.06.08 "Painting the town green"
2008 BBC Gardeners World, spring 2008
2008 Jellied Eal magazine

2007 Green Spaces, September issue
2007 Hackney Gazette, July "The plot thickens"
2007 Don't Panic Magazine

2007 Building Design Magazine, July

COW the udder way
(www.theudderway.info)
27/06/05 BBC NW evening news ”Jersey by the Mersey
28/06/05 Liverpool Echo ”Amazing Graze”
30/06/05 BBC Radio Merseyside breakfast show
24/06/05 Farmers Guardian ”Jerseys take a city break”
02/07/05 Farmers Weekly ”Merseyside visit for DevonJerseys”
25/11/05 Leipziger Tageszeitung 25.11.2005 “Kühe inder Leerstelle”
01/2006 Green Futures “Move over Tracey”
09/10/05 Independent, The Sunday Review ‘Daisy’s Big Adventure”
01/2006 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The travelling shed
03/04/06 Independant, "Gardens"
Surrey local press

Living in Superbia
2004 MAJA architecture magazine, Estonia
2004 Kunst, Estonia
  AWARDS:
  Finalist:
Biodiversity/Landscaping Award for: Vacant Lot
2008 Sustainable Housing Award

Winning entry:

Shrinking Cities-Reinventing Urbanism Competition 2004
with "Udder way team" www.theudderway.info


3rd prize: Honourable Mention

Europan 7 competition
Suburban Challenge Tallinn, Estonia, 2004
with Eike Sindlinger


3rd prize: Honourable Mention
RIBA Urban Sustainability competition, 2001
with Eike Sindlinger