London Made
Exploring the links between London’s culture and industry
‘London Made' is a film – commissioned specially for the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism – that celebrates the people, processes and places that make London a productive city. Looking behind the stage, the film explores the ‘back of house’ supply chains of one of London’s most distinctive cultural venues: the Barbican.
Set makers, food and drink manufacturers, lighting specialists and logistics companies are just a sample of the activity that makes London thrive. London Made follows a series of threads that lead out of the Barbican to uncover production activities and networks of supply that support and sustain the venue. This exploration spans Greater London, uncovering layers of supply, from raw materials to final-stage installation and display. As well as cultural production processes such as set design, costume production and audio-visual services, the threads featured in the film illustrate wider industrial activities like urban logistics, high-tech manufacturing and food and drink production, which are crucial to keep the city thriving.
At the same time, this film looks beyond the current landscape to the policies, places and pressures that shape how London works as a productive city.
London is growing. Recent strategic thinking and research has revealed that London's spaces of production are under threat. As the city strives to achieve good growth that benefits its citizens, how can those working in the built environment sustain and support London’s strengths as a productive city?
London’s architects, urban designers, developers, planners and policy-makers are finding new ways of retaining and integrating industry in the city. Through a series of interviews, London Made draws on the city’s wealth of existing intelligence and expertise to explore what is being done, propositionally and strategically, to support London as a productive city.
Inaugural screening at the Barbican, 2018
Seoul Biennale of Architecture & Urbanism, 2017
Project Details
- Client
- Mayor of London, British Council & New London Architecture
- Status
Launched 2017 (Screened Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Korea, and Barbican Centre, UK)
- Team
We Made That, Film director: Alice Masters, Assistant camera: Joe Almond, Sound editor: Dan Hayhurst, Graphic design: Maddison Graphic
