A Building Made for Artists

Blechynden Street Studios is an unusual example of a ‘purpose-built artists’ studio building in London’ Designed by architect Gunnar Orefelt and completed in 1999, its 21 studios are arranged along open walkways, with large floor-to-ceiling windows bringing natural light directly into the working spaces.

The building’s distinctive functional, almost industrial character is said to have been influenced by the photographic Typologies of German conceptual artists Bernd and Hilla Becher, who documented water towers, factories and other industrial structures as repeated architectural forms.

For Open House, visitors will have a rare opportunity to go beyond the exterior and see a working artists’ building from the inside. Studios will open their doors, offering glimpses into different practices, materials and ways of working — from painting and sculpture to ceramics.

Family Architecture Workshop

Children and families will be invited to become architects for the day, using drawing, collage and simple model-making to design their own imagined buildings.

Starting with a closer look at Blechynden Street Studios and the photographic Typologies of Bernd and Hilla Becher, participants can explore repeated shapes, windows, grids, towers and industrial structures, then use these ideas as a starting point for a building of their own.

The workshop encourages children to look differently at the architecture around them: to notice how buildings are put together, what gives them character, and how a functional structure can also become something visually fascinating.

Visitors will also be able to look behind the scenes of a purpose-built artists’ building, seeing the studios where artists work and how different creative practices inhabit the same architectural structure.