The collaboration that turned a city square into a giant interactive performance and forum for changing public spaces. 

Aiming to encourage engagement with the arts, cultural space and public realm, YourSpace a recent temporary transformation of Exhibition Square in York was the exciting culmination of a collaboration between architects of the award-winning architectural studio DSDHA and Beam a company dedicated to the imaginative understanding and improvement of the public realm. The installation also forms the platform for a national conference to be held in 2010, funded by CABE.

The team transformed the square with an installation of over 1,000 orange boxes, and featured a team of performers and interactive sound and light installations. The general public was then invited to enter the huge orange gateway, interact with performers, draw with light, and, offer their views on public spaces in York.


Initially commissioned by the City of York Council to run a series of consultation workshops, DSDHA and Beam developed this flexible and adaptable process to establish a model for public engagement through the opportunity for formal and ad-hoc events, performances, and exhibitions.

The People Changing Places project explores the integration of art and cultural space into the public realm to reveal new journeys and connections feeding directly into York’s public realm strategy. It also anticipates the longer term ambitions of York Art Gallery to create a permanent outdoor gallery.

 YourSpace will form the basis of a CABE funded national conference in 2010 exploring creative engagement in public realm design with good practice case studies.

Collaborators
Performance: Pilot Theatre Company

Lighting: Studio Dekka
Sound
Installation: Bright White