Liverpool building image from Office for Subversive Architecture 290906

Greenland Street
67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY Tel +44(0)151 706 0600 Fax +44 (0) 0151 706 0601 www.afoundation.org.uk info@afoundation.org.uk

Press Release: Office for Subversive Architecture
15 Sep – 26 Nov 2006

Greenland Street offers a new and unique opportunity for emerging architectural practices to design and build a major temporary structure. The commission for the roof of The Blade Factory, a 700+ sq m space that is part of the new art centre’s complex of buildings, will take place every September with the structure on site for three months.

For the first of these major annual architecture commissions, Office for Subversive Architecture (osa) has created an interesting, playful structure that inhabits the roof and one vertical side of The Blade Factory.

It acts as a beacon to draw people from the surrounding area, linking the arts centre to the city, offering a cafÈ and resting place on arrival, as well as fantastic views of the River Mersey and the city centre. Inspired by the huge regeneration of Liverpool and the immediate area around Greenland Street, the innovative temporary structure refers to the industrial heritage of The Blade Factory and other local buildings.

The installation is a building as well as an outdoor installation, literally embracing the Blade Factory and connecting its roof with ground level. The structure appears to merge into The Blade Factory and the fabric of the existing building is incorporated within the new commission. It physically divides the roof into two spaces (‘City’ and ‘Merseyside’) but at the same time has a permeable faÁade that can be walked through. Made from the type of PVC curtain used in modern factory buildings, an outer, white translucent layer protects the whole space against the weather; an inner red translucent layer adds thermal and noise protection to create a gathering space for lectures and talks.

The commission has been developed in response to Liverpool’s architectural landscape, which is a fascinating mix of an extensive World Heritage Site and a vast palette of renovation, refurbishment and new builds. The feeling of growth and change within the city is palpable and Greenland Street will engage audiences in a wider debate regarding architecture and the built environment.

In autumn 2006, talks and discussions organised by Greenland Street in collaboration with Liverpool Culture Company’s Cities in Transition Programme will be housed within the structure and look at the relationship between art and architecture. Speakers include artists and architects Nils Norman, Public Works, Nathan Coley and MUF.

Greenland Street Liverpool: PR from Office for Subversive Architecture 290906

Greenland St Contemporary Art
Greenland Street is a major new venue for contemporary art launched by A Foundation in September 2006. Located within walking distance of the city centre, the World Heritage Site docks area and major museums including Tate Liverpool, Greenland Street consists of three enormous former industrial buildings located in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool’s up and coming industrial district, that have been transformed into 2500sq metres of high quality exhibition space.

Office for Subversive Architecture
osa is a network of eight architects based in five cities across three countries and two of its members, Karsten Huneck and Bernd Truempler, have worked specifically on the Greenland Street project, which they are executing with their practice Studio+44. osa’s work sits somewhere between art and architecture and recent projects have explored the way people use and interact with public spaces and are well known for addressing issues relating to urban regeneration. osa also often collaborates with other professionals from visual art, music, film, photography and sculpture. In London, osa recently worked with Hoegaarden to create a living urban oasis replete with grassed-over tables and for another project, created a temporary ‘roof’ of 250 umbrellas over Trafalgar Square.

Greenland Street’s roof commission and talks programme is supported by Liverpool Culture Company.

Greenland Street is open Wed – Sun 10-6pm, Thu late-night until 8pm
Admission is free. Greenland Street has partial disabled access.


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