With a goal of building stronger communities in mind, the University of Roehampton was awarded a grant from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Design Council as a part of the Designing London’s Recovery scheme.
The scheme suggests the notion that by 2025, all Londoners will have access to community hubs within their locality which ensure they have opportunities to volunteer, get support and build strong networks within their community.
Glenn Odom, Reader of Editor Studies in Theatre and Performance, has been working to support this by creating mobile community hubs which build upon the exciting work already taking place in the Alton estates in Roehampton.
Through teaming up with the local council’s regeneration team, Fabric Space Architecture and several local artists, Glenn has been designing areas where people are able to come together, create, make recycle, repair, grow, cultivate, and play.
Glenn’s work on the community hubs stresses that these are not just about creating a physical place for people to visit but are about providing an accessible support platform that is engaging, transparent and interactive.
Subsequently, Glenn has been involved in the design, development and building of mobile stage systems for use around the local area which have included performances such as The Tale of 2020 by local artist Orode Faka.
Glenn said “The community has really responded well to our pilot events which, I think, has a great deal to do with the co-design philosophy that the Design Council helped us implement.
“We look forward to the first full-scale project in December when we will schedule two weeks of community activities with the help of students and community volunteers.”
On the 22nd of September, Glenn’s work was displayed at the London Design Festival at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The festival, now in its 20th year, is one of the worlds leading design events and promotes the city’s creativity by bringing together the country’s greatest thinkers, practitioners, and educators to deliver a true celebration of their work.