Cultural Masterplan for Stoke-on-Trent
Expect the Unexpected
The Cultural Masterplan, developed by Dan Dubowitz
This Is a project to plan and effect a cultural transformation of the Stoke- on-Trent city-region in tandem with the wide ranging physical transformation under way.
A pilot for the Cultural Masterplan Programme was undertaken by artist Dan Dubowitz of Civic Works Ltd for Stoke-on-Trent from January to September 2009. The core pilot projects are "Breaking the Mould", Nomadic architecture, and Show Street.
**Nomadic Architecture
A collaboration between Dan Dubowitz and Kapok Architects
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This is one of two cultural masterplan projects worked up in detail. "The Nomads" is a proposal for a series of 12 itinerant buildings. A deployment scenario of forty diverse installations across the the city region over a two year period has been developed that would generate a vibrant debate and unexpected interaction with people in and around key sites about to undergo a massive physical and social transformation.
The Nomads are reconfigured ISO shipping containers with a kit of parts to be installed on wastegrounds and building sites as dj booths, temporary offices, tea rooms, kiosks, exhibition spaces, lightboxes, public viewing galleries...., and can be deployed in a matter of minutes. One morning Stoke-on-Trent might wake up to find a full tribe of Nomads wandering through its wastelands.
**Breaking the Mould
A photography project by Dan Dubowitz
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Breaking the Mould is a snapshot of some of the abandoned or underused buildings in Stoke-on-Trent visited between January and March 2009.
The Potteries is a collection of once thriving independent towns lying between Manchester and Birmingham on a 13 mile stretch of rich clay and coal seams along the River Trent. The area changed rapidly during the industrial revolution. Local entrepreneurs such as Wedgwood transformed manufacturing and mass production in the area. In Britain we think of Manchester or Glasgow as the powerhouses of the industrial revolution. I was astonished when first exploring Stoke-on-Trent to find so many extraordinary industrial and cultural buildings remaining in good condition, many as if the last shift had just ended.
The six towns that now comprise Stoke-on-Trent were brought together by an act of federation in 1910. These photos meditate on the debate - What's next for Stoke? Are these buildings the key to providing a continuity of culture in a region that is seeking a new identity? Breaking the Mould is the first in a series of cultural masterplan projects that Civic Works is developing for Stoke on Trent.
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