Yard Life

Location:	Southwark, London
Type:	Public Event
Client:	N/A Self-Initiated
Collaborators:	Studio Lorenz Klingebiel, Vangeli Moschopoulos, Kezia Harper, Antoine Marinot, Taylan Mutaf, London Stone Carving, Max Johns, Hannah Wolfe, Kaymet London, Brunswick East, Rhys Allen
Duration:	2019-2020
Status:	Completed

Yard Life was a series of events hosted in the front yard of Kaymet London Ltd, a metal tray making factory, stonemasons workshop and design studios near to the Old Kent Road. The events are a collaboration between designers and makers based at Kaymet. Within the political, economic and social context of the area, which has been designated for complete transformation, Yard Life reimagines how light industrial spaces can contribute to city life.

At the first Yard Life, we experimented with the notion of polyvalence, transforming the space over the course of a weekend from open-air exhibition hosting free workshops and tours of the factories and studios, a night-time venue in the evening and a daytime cinema the following day. The event hosted screenings of locally-made films by Rainbow Collective, Bells Gardens Animation Club, Dorothy Allen-Pickard, Michael White, Nikita Woolfe and Paul Sng followed by Q&As. Additional short films were on show during the event, focusing the lens on the productive and industrial side of the local area. To facilitate the event, we created light infrastructure recycled from waste in the yard, including a brick chimney smoker, food service area, a bar and furniture.

The second event YL–OSB–01 was a winter exhibition exploring local manufacturing in London. At the centre of the self build exhibition were 30 Yard Life Over–Sized Bags (YL–OSB–01 – 30), designed and prototyped at Kaymet Studios, manufactured in London and produced from the waste tarpaulin from Yard Life 2019. The exhibition included a fully-costed receipt accounting for materials, transport and labour costs at London Living Wage for all participants. All the bags were then either pre-ordered via instagram or sold on the day at cost price.