For immediate release

‘KNOCK’D ‘EM IN THE OLD KENT ROAD.’

 

AN EVENT TO MAKE VISIBLE THE DIVERSITY AND RICHNESS OF COMMUNITIES IN THE OLD KENT ROAD, AND QUESTION HOW THESE WILL BE AFFECTED BY IMMINENT ‘REGENERATION’.

The Old Kent Road is often referred to as the cheapest street on the Monopoly board. Now it has been declared an Opportunity Area. But for whom? And for what?

Next Tuesday’s event (28 June), Knock’d ‘em in the Old Kent Road, brings together the communities around the Old Kent Road to engage with the knotty issues of who wins and who loses when regeneration comes marching into your neighbourhood, as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

Southwark is proposing to build 20.000 homes in the Old Kent Road area, but most of these will replace industrial land and retail sheds that currently employ the same number of people as the centre of Glasgow. How will their loss impact on the existing communities and the local economy?

The event is hosted by Peckham Weeklies – a free-range voluntary community group – together with Old Kent Road People, local residents, businesses, the CASS, UCL and LSE. The evening will be a lively combination of group action, five-minute provocations and recent studies of the OKR, followed by an open-mic forum for everyone to have their say.

Together, we’ll flush out the facts, provide insights about the scale and style of communities at risk, and galvanise people around what needs to be done to preserve the essential qualities, facilities and character of this iconic street.

As a grand finale, all attendees are invited to join our spontaneous kazoo choir to perform the classic music hall song “Knock’d ‘em in the Old Kent Road’. To rehearse the song have a look at the Muppets. Kazoos will be provided.

 

EVENT DETAILS

DATE: 28 June 19:00 – 21:00

VENUE: Asylum, Asylum Road, Caroline Gardens, SE15 2SQ

FREE

Full listing on architecturediary.org
Follow us on Twitter @sOldKentRoad

Part of  London Festival of Architecture 2016

For more information or queries about photography and filming, contact Ulrike Steven at Ulrike@what-if.info

 

 

Highlights of our five minute provocations include:

Community – the C Word. Richard Lee, a founder and director of the Jerwood Space in Bankside and chair of access charity Stagetext, highlights the slippery quality of this C word which, by being applied to everything can end up meaning nothing.

Invisible assets: David Fox of Artistic Spaces highlights the Old Kent Road as a haven for creatives and start-ups: the Old Kent Road offers vital cheap studio space for well over 100 individuals and small businesses, from painters, architects and sculptors to fashion designers. All of these are at risk

We are Not Nothing: Mark Brearley, local business owner and professor at the Cass School of Architecture, highlights what light industry has brought to the area. And what is now at risk from development.

Compulsory Purchase Orders: Jane Rendell professor at UCL and local resident will examine the growing use of ‘compulsory purchase orders’.

Opportunity for everyone: Nicolas Okwulu of Pempeople taking about the proposed community venue Old Kent Road studios based in 60 garages on the Ledbury Estate.

David McLean of Southwark Group of Tenants Organisations highlights the role of TRAs within social housing and local regeneration.

What’s under our noses: Ulrike Steven, architect and Old Kent Road resident delivers a summary of the massive changes afoot that none of her fellow OKR’s residents appear to know about.

Tanya Murat of Southwark Defend Council Housing, on Council housing’s vital role for helping working class people to live in London.

UCL research fellow Elena Besussi will introduce Old Kent Road facts and figures, gathered by her students.

 

ASYLUM

Asylum, AKA Caroline Gardens Chapel is a flexible project space, run by artists Jo Dennis and Dido Hallett, as part of an eclectic and unusual range of event spaces, run by Maverick Projects. It is available for film shoots, events and wedding ceremonies.

http://maverickprojects.co.uk/

 

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