MASTERHACKERS: Urban Design Challenge | THE FESTIVAL OF LOOKING

Various Locations in East Folkestone

Existing in a state of flux, Folkestone is a town that has been, and still is, undergoing a series of long-term changes and developments that embed arts and culture within the urban environment and its communities. A secondary effect of this process is the rejuvenation of the local streets and infrastructure, both independently and more commercially. Responding to that, the Folkestone Urban Room has established itself as a base for information and discussion to raise local awareness and engagement within these changes – a place for discussion, talks, debates, enquiry and presentations for residents and visitors alike who wish to contribute to the future of Folkestone. 

With a focus on developing a communal understanding of the urban environment and how that is developed, the Urban Room Summer Programme contains a series of different workshops, research projects and public events that can help local communities engage with the town’s development on a more critical level. Through this programme, participants will get to engage and explore present-day Folkestone and its future. 

Key to this programme are the local practitioners and members of the community taking part, and therefore as a part of this wider programme, we are launching MASTERHACKERS, a project that calls on students of Architecture (including related courses such as Interior Architecture and Design or Urban Design) to design and propose a series of small-scale spatial interventions for Folkestone. 

Design Challenge 

The Urban Room Folkestone team have selected a series of forgotten place-markers and unseen features located around the town, moments of the urban environment that have been left behind and neglected. A team of Interior Architecture & Design students have been tasked with designing small-scale interventions that gives these features a new function, to reinstate their importance and relevance to the town of today. What new life can be given to a broken lamppost? What can you do with a small empty pocket of land with no necessity?