Public Works is an art and architecture practice from London that works within and towards public space. Public Works operates on the edge of the art habitat: All of their projects address how the public realm is shaped by its various users and how existing dynamics can inform further development. They make use of a particular public space through participation and collaboration, thus producing a collective space and extending its public character. Projects address the relation between the informal and formal aspects of a site, producing social, architectural, and discursive spaces. Public Works frequently activates artistic competence, and their projects include socio-spatial and physical structures, public events, and publications. Manuals presented in the workshop were published in the framework of R-urban Wick, a project located in the Hackney Wick district of London. R-urban Wick is a pilot project that initiates local ecological cycles, supporting the emergence of alternative models of living, producing, and consuming. Publishing manuals is typical of Public Works’ methodology of sharing collective knowledge – usually generated in workshops and skill-sharing sessions – aimed at developing bottom-up strategies of urban resilience.
www.publicworksgroup.net
www.r-urban.net
