Post‐war and post‐Olympics: east London architecture and regeneration, across the generations
Students and young people from across the Olympic Host boroughs attend workshop on architecture
On Saturday 23 February, students from Birkbeck’s Certificate in Higher Education in Understanding Visual Arts and young people from across the Olympic Host Boroughs attended a workshop on architecture and regeneration in east London across the generations.
The workshop is a collaboration between Birkbeck’s Department of History of Art and Screen Media, and Fundamental Architectural Inclusion, a Newham-based charity. Led by Dr Leslie Topp, Senior Lecturer in the History of Architecture and Nick Edwards, Director of Fundamental, it looked at how the regeneration of part of east London for the 2012 Olympic Games has affected people of all ages, as well as considering the area’s history and the place of regeneration within it.
Dr Topp said: “The lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games was not the first time that east London has undergone a period of ‘regeneration’, ‘renewal’ and ‘reconstruction’. The period after the Second World War was also a time of enormous change to this area and the way of life for the communities here. This workshop was an opportunity for students on the Birkbeck programme, which is taught at our Stratford campus, and young people from the Olympic host boroughs to consider what successful regeneration looks like, who it serves and how it can be planned in a way that works for everyone within a community.”
The workshop attendees looked at film clips from the 1940s and 2000s and discussed how urban renewal and regeneration – and the ways that they’re carried out – have changed over time.
Eduardo Da Costa, a workshop participant, said: “The day gave a really interesting historical perspective on contemporary issues around the regeneration of East London. I came away thinking about how history repeats itself - we haven't learned the lessons of the past'”.
The workshop was funded by a grant from the Initiatives Fund of the Association of Art Historians.
Further information:
- Read Dr Leslie Topp’s blog post about the workshop on the Birkbeck Events blog.
- Find out about Birkbeck’s Certificate in Higher Education in Understanding Visual Arts
- See all our courses taught in Stratford.