ANTEPAVILION 2021 BRIEF
As we transition from 2020 to 2021 Antepavilon remains locked in legal battles with Hackney Council that started in late 2019. The Council, from Mayor, Philip Glanville, down to junior planning officers are pulling out all the stops to try and close down the annual Antepavilion commission. Our ‘Hackney Fight’ page covers the story with a brief account of the struggle to date and gives access to the key legal documents.
This ongoing litigation and the public inquiry soon to be scheduled for hearing by the Planning Inspectorate continues to set the scene for the 2021 competition - as the Council’s first 2019 enforcement notice did for 2020.
Bartizan
From Wikipedia:
A bartizan (or guerite) is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th century up to the 18th century.
Open call
The Antepavilion commission is open to everyone; no particular qualifications are required. But, although we make available some specialist skills, particularly metalworking and structural engineering support, entrants must be able to build their proposal largely themselves.
Brief
As with all previous Antepavilion briefs, 2021’s ‘Bartizan’ may be imaginatively interpreted. However, below are a few considerations for entrants in 2021:
Guerre
Because of the strained relations between Antepavilion and Hackney Council it is impossible to know if or when they might make an emergency application to the High Court for an injunction for removal of any additions or amendments to the wharf buildings. Without notice to us, at any time, they might go and try to persuade a judge that we are ruining their carefully designated conservation area. (below). Or their cherished designated heritage assets (below)
Columbia/Brunswick Wharf (Hoxton Docks) and Kent Wharf: Hackney Council’s carefully designated conservation area. (See Hackney Fight)
Hackney’s cherished local designated heritage assets: Haggerston Baths, closed in 2002 and since left derelict and vandalised; and crumbling Haggerston Bridge (See Hackney Fight)
Agility
Demountability, adaptability and transportability of the winning structure will be a potentially valuable feature in this year’s entries. If the Council were to proceed to court for another injunction the 2021 winner should preferably be able to migrate to another position on the site or completely different location. Teams might also want to take a careful and imaginative look at the General Permitted Development Order to see what possibilities it offers for legally unchallengeable development. e.g. temporary structures
Alternatively, entries might aim to please the junior planning officers to whom the Council’s Head of Planning and its Cabinet member for Planning and Culture claim to have delegated the aesthetic governance of the Borough’s built environment. However, this is a tricky path to follow. The foot soldiers are fickle and intoxicated by the great powers bestowed upon them. Their tastes are unrefined and inconstant but their confidence in them is unshakeable. So the fragile clues available to entrants wanting to follow a policy of appeasement come only from their form to date. We know, for example, that they have a particular abhorrence of ‘incongruous’ structures. So 1960’s style bartizans ‘in harmony’ with the 1960s Brunswick Wharf warehouse might just curry their favour. Some captioned photographs [below] are the best we can offer by way of help.
Incongruous? Finely crafted faux 19c. neo-classical doorway in pigmented cast concrete masonry, installed in 2020. ‘Drystone’ canal wall renewal. Built with retained Portland, York and Bath stone moulding pieces and concrete cores from Shiva’s restoration projects. c.2015
Incongruous? Sliding steel and triple-wall opalescent polycarbonate sheet ‘screen’. Modelled on mid-20th century aircraft hangar doors. c.2014
Incongruous? Sliding warehouse door in sheet steel with solid riveted, Victorian industrial design references. c.2005
Re-use
Again as with previous years’ Antepavilion briefs, recycling of materials is encouraged. A particular opportunity for resourcefulness arises this year from the dismantling of the 2019 Potemkin Theatre ,which will take place in the first quarter of 2021. The de-construction will yield materials that will all be available for re-use. The original construction drawings and materials schedule by Maich Swift Architects are available here [as built drawings].
The removal of Potemkin theatre by Maich Swift Architects will also release a prominent location that has been the site of Flood House (2016) by Matthew Butcher as well as the Potemkin.
Flood House by Matthew Butcher (2015), Potemkin Theatre (2019), to be dismantled in early 2021. The location following (virtual) removal.
Location
As with the loose concept of Bartizan invited for the 2021 Antepavilion the location selected by entrants is also flexible. Street and canal views and aerial photographs as well as dwg plans and elevations are available in the resources [link] below. Anywhere on the site may be selected by entrants although some of the other considerations listed here may argue strongly for one position or another.
Columbia/Brunswick Wharf and Kent Wharf. Sharks! (2020) was removed from the canal on 25.10.2020 pursuant to a High Court injunction currently under appeal.
(See Hackney Fight)
Budget
The budget for the project is £25,000 which is split into a £10,000 prize fund and £15,000 worth of materials and labour. Teams are free to propose putting a portion of the prize fund towards the construction budget. Carefully considered budgeting is an essential element of the Antepavilion commission. The winning team will be invited to work with the workshops, machinery and craftsmen on site at the Wharf, leading to the completion and installation of the finished structure by July 2021.
Process and selection
Entries to the Antepavilion competition should be submitted digitally via the online entry form.
Selection will be by a jury (to be announced) comprising a planning barrister, a specialist heritage planning consultant, a structural engineer, last year’s winner and three artists/architects.
Each entry should comprise a proposal title, team or practice name and two A3 boards describing the proposed structure formatted as a single PDF document. The PDF should be named in the following format:
[name of proposal]_[name of practice/artist].pdf
The boards themselves must be anonymous. Please do not include the names or contact details of your practice in the PDF, only as the file name and in the entry form. Entries will be considered by a cross-disciplinary jury including artists and architects to be announced shortly.
Open Days
Potential entrants are invited to view the site at one of three open days:
Saturday 16 January, 1pm - 4pm. (Please call or email (admin@antepavilion.org) for specific applicable Covid arrangements)
Sunday 31 January, 12pm - 3pm.
Friday 19 February, 11am - 2pm.
Visitors should head to Columbia and Brunswick Wharf, 53 Laburnum Street, E2 8BD where there will be further directions. The roof and canal setting can also be seen from the public footpath which runs along the north side of the canal. There is no need to book a place at an open day but you should make sure you have registered interest in the commission before attending.
Deadline
The deadline for entries is Sunday 7 March 2021. Three to five of the entries will be selected by the panel for further development. A small bursary of £3,000 will be divided equally between the shortlisted applicants to fund the development of their final presentation. Structural engineering support will also be provided to develop the construction strategy of the shortlisted proposals.
Exhibition of shortlist
The shortlisted entries will be exhibited at Columbia and Brunswick Wharf during the Antepavilion opening party in August.
Questions from entrants
Questions from entrants may be emailed to admin@antepavilion.org. Answers will be posted openly on the Antepavilion website.
Columbia and Brunswick Wharf
Columbia and Brunswick Wharf is a complex of artists’ studios, workshops and events spaces. It occasionally hosts large events. The site is not open to the public as a matter of routine although it is for numerous occasional special events, including Open House.
Further reading
Antepavilion is currently engaged in a research project entitled Anarchitecture which is discussed here.
RESOURCES
for specifications, drawings, and photos