Futurecity

"If you want to solve a problem, ask an artist." Have you heard our CEO & Founder Mark Davy on the Extraordinary Creatives Podcast hosted by Ceri Hand? In it, they discuss the public art revolution - the rise of cultural placemaking within planning and the value of embedding arts into the built environment. This episode uncovers how art transforms urban spaces, the challenges of large-scale public art projects, and the delicate balance between artists, developers, and communities. Mark also talks about his career and how starting as a practicing artist gave him special insight into the value of artists and designers working collaboratively with architectural and urban design teams. He talks about his time within artist studios, lecturing in arts schools and holding a residency at the Architectural Association, all of which led him to start Futurecity, one of the most successful international cultural placemaking agencies. Thank you to Ceri Hand for having Mark Davy on the podcast. To listen to the full episode, search Extraordinary Creatives wherever you get your podcasts from, or visit this link: https://lnkd.in/e_Gp_cJ3 #ExtraordinaryCreatives #podcast #culturalplacemaking #publicart #builtenvironment #urbandesign #architecture #planning #CeriHand #MarkDavy #Futurecity

Tickets are still available for tomorrow's NLA talk 'Out There! Art in the Public Realm, powered by PechaKucha at The London Centre. Senior Cultural Strategist George Kekatos will be sharing how public art can impact local communities and enliven our urban spaces. Get your tickets: https://lnkd.in/eBcUcaGS

Planning Announcement: The London Tunnels, the City’s Next Major Cultural Attraction ✨ Planning for the #TheLondonTunnels was approved by the London Borough of Camden and the City of London Corporation. This new cultural venue will be a major boost for the City of London's Destination City programme. The wartime experience and contemporary cultural offer will join other major cultural attractions such as the #Barbican, #MuseumofLondon and #GuildhallSchool of Music. Constructed during the Blitz as a deep-level air-raid shelter under the London Underground in 1944, the tunnels were occupied by the Special Operations Executive, a location thought to have inspired Q Branch in Ian Fleming’s iconic James Bond novels. Futurecity collaborated with wider team WilkinsonEyre, Gardiner & Theobald LLP, Montagu Evans, WSP, DBOX and Volterra in devising an ambitious Cultural Strategy for The London Tunnels. The strategy sets out an exciting and ambitious range of experiential and digital art projects for The London Tunnels, which will fill the vast tunnels under the area under Holborn and the Fleet Street Quarter area. The strategy proposes creative partnerships with major galleries, art schools, artists, designers and creative tech partners. An experimental Lab will develop technologies, ideas and content for the tunnels. For more information: https://lnkd.in/ewieDX43 Images by DBOX for The London Tunnels #culturalplacemaking The London Tunnels PLC #planning #announcement #culturalheritage #DestinationCity #partnerships #CityofLondon #Camden #LondonDestination #Tourism

Looking forward to speaking at the NLA Summit, which is exploring the future of the #CityofLondon and the #DraftCityPlan2040, launched in April 2024 and focused on three key pillars: #economic, #social, and #environmental and aims to shape the #builtenvironment sustainably, support businesses and the people working in the City. One of the key drivers for the radical transformation into a #DestinationCity has to be the use of #culture and #placemaking to tell the story’s and provide the ‘software’ stories and creative vision. It was a brave decision by the City to insist on a robust and deliverable cultural strategy as part of the planning application for new development. This is not the random use of #106 or the idealism of a #percentforarts scheme but an integrated approach sitting alongside decsions on architecture and public realm and part of the economic planning and viability of a scheme. It's a big experiment! one which places the arts at an early stage in the development process, rather than an add on or arbitrary decision, although legacy and long term viability are still areas that need work. On a personal level I feel it has vindicated an approach I started back in 2002 with the #GrosvenorWaterside development for Berkeley Group Plc, where artists and creatives were embedded in the design team from the outset. So, in my 7 minutes I will review some of the projects we have worked on thus far and share insight into the process of getting them accepted by the client, finding the right cultural partners and involving the #community and other stakeholders and finally navigating the planning process. This is an initiative which should inspire other boroughs, towns and cities to develop similar strategies. Futurecity Guildhall School of Music & Drama Gwyn Richards Chris Hayward Dominus Migration Museum

On my way to the great city of  #Istanbul the result of an incredibly generous invite from the Türkiye Design Council to give a  #keynote at the Placemaking and #SmartCities Conference on Monday and to help run a workshop: 'Placemaking for Adaptive Reuse'. The devastating earthquake on 6 February 2023, has placed placemaking and the redevelopment of their cities as Turkey’s number one priority and the  #TurkishDesignCouncil Founder Mehmet KALYONCU has been working to establish a bridge between local and central governments, and the public and private sectors as well as inviting the workds leading architects to spearhead the redesign of the city of  #Hatay, which was hard hit by the earthquake. This invitation and other recent requests to share the work of Futurecity shows how important arts, culture and placemaking is in the real estate sector. We have been working in the sector for nearly 24 years often at the masterplanning and pre planning stage when and where most of the big financial and design decisions are made and for a long time were a sole voice for #CulturalPlacemaking and the power of culture as a driving narrative for new development, regeneration and planning. I will use the talk to argue for #placemaking, arts and culture to be given more prominence when setting up development teams and for more focused education on how to balance this approach with the more traditional design process. https://lnkd.in/eZcQM2GY https://lnkd.in/eZPEY2be Furkan Demirci Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

Interested in Futurecity's approach to commissioning temporary and permanent artworks in the public realm or how how different forms of public art can impact communities? Senior Cultural Strategist George Kekatos will be speaking at the NLA PechaKucha Out there! Art in the public realm at The London Centre on Wednesday 17 July. George will share how long-term, strategic cultural planning has played a role in shaping London's public spaces, and how cultural development and investment can lead to vibrant, active spaces that transform the ways communities engage with public space. This event is part of NLA’s ‘Public London: Activating the City’ report that showcases exemplar projects which engage the public realm through arts and culture. The report highlights many of Futurecity's past projects, celebrating the value of a strategic approach to arts and culture across London: from Greystar's #BermondseyProject, Network Rail's #LondonBridge Station, #StGilesSquare, as well as new cultural districts at Battersea Power Station, #WembleyPark for Quintain Limited and #LondonCityIsland for Ballymore. Tickets are free, book now at: https://lnkd.in/eBcUcaGS #NLA #publicart #culturalplacemaking #culturalinvestment #culturaldevelopment #planning #placeactivation

Privileged to be in the audience this evening g to hear Peter Murray OBE inaugral #MurrayLecture in conversation with Beatrice Galilee British #curator and international writer on design and #architecture. In a humorous, informed and occasional critical talk to a packed audience peter explored #London position on the global stage and delved into the essence of what might make London the best city in the world. Futurecity #placemaking Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Founder and CEO Mark Davy kicked off the Business South Regenerate Central South Annual Conference at University of Winchester Business School today, highlighting the role of culture in unlocking the potential of our cities. Building off of recent talks, Mark expanded on the importance of investment in arts and culture at the outset of projects - creating active, vibrant places people want to live in; developed and delivered in collaboration with communities and artists alongside designers, developers and planners. #culturalplacemaking #culturalinvestment #culturaldevelopment #planning #housing #sustinability

Get your tickets for Wednesday's Business South - Regenerative Central South Conference where our Founder & CEO Mark Davy will be chairing. Below, Mark shares his thoughts on the value of leveraging #arts and #culture to attract both investment and tourism for cities and regions - both as a way to activate regional places, but also to attract and retain knowledge workers and the region's young talent. Check out his post below to read more. Register for the event via: https://lnkd.in/eQ-HZMb4 #regensouth #placemaking #BusinessSouth #culturalinvestment #culturaldevelopment #culturalmasterplanning #visioning #conference