Cultural programme has been championed by chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones
dRMM founder Sadie Morgan has launched a new cultural initiative with developer Dicle Guntas which aims to activate underused and overlooked spaces.
Called Forefront, it will bring together the arts and built environment sectors through creative programming and collaborative experimentation, initially focusing on vacant retail units.
Guntas is the managing director of HGG London, a property developer which specialises in transforming complex urban sites into creative spaces. Forefront will be based on the ground floor of HGG’s Milieu, a new CLT office building on Old Street designed by Mary Duggan Architects.
The initiative will be fully supported by HGG for its first year including funding for a programme lead, rotating curators and the office space at Milieu.
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Its inaugural programme will include a public art commission, a light installation designed by Jason Bruges Studio to be presented alongside an exhibition at the Forefront HQ.
The office space will be used to test strategies for enlivening underused high street spaces across the UK by bringing together developers and landowners to collaborate on creative programming at vacant units.
The team will also commission research to map the impact of retail vacancy and the value of culture-led regeneration.
The initiative has been praised by chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, who described Forefront as a “brilliant example of how developers and architects are turning empty high street buildings into spaces for culture, creativity and community”.
Jones added: “By breathing new life into our high streets we can revitalise our towns and deliver economic growth.”
Guntas said, “We’re starting Forefront to encourage conversations between industries and networks that are too often closed off to one another.
“By creating space for potential alchemy, we hope to unlock unexpected partnerships, develop a shared language across disciplines and foster a creatively reciprocal relationship, where the built environment and art worlds can tangibly influence one another.”
Morgan added: “Progress in our industry comes from creative friction, the kind that happens when different disciplines, ideas and people come together around a common purpose. Forefront gives us a platform to explore formats that feel generous and impactful.”
Early collaborators include research and urban design practice Publica, developers Capital & Centric, founder and director of Art School Plus and Henry Moore Foundation Trustee, Ella Snell, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Southwark Park Galleries and art/IP lawyer, Jon Sharples.
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