UNDER CONSTRUCTION by Takeshi Hayatsu & collaborators

Under Construction is an evolving collaborative architecture project, under construction at the Stanley Picker Gallery throughout September – December 2024. The exhibition surveys over a decade of ambitious live-build projects guided by architect Takeshi Hayatsu, working with Kingston University Architecture and Landscape students and a growing cohort of participants and community partners (including 121 Collective, The Community Brain, Citizen Zoo, and more). Since 2011, these projects have provided imaginative and highly resourceful responses to their chosen locations in collaboration with diverse communities around Kingston, Surbiton, Tolworth and beyond.

121 reconstructed past projects using various craft techniques and led the live build process alongside the current MArch Unit 5 architecture students from Kingston School of Art, building a rammed earth entrance structure and a prefabricated sauna along the Hogsmill river. This hands-on collaboration embodies our interest in material-driven processes and participatory designing and making. The project was featured in The Guardians 2024 design highlights.

Photographs are credited to Jim Stephenson @clickclickjim