Rob Harland from Loughborough Univesity has been banging on about this question with Leicester Urban Observeratory colleagues for almost five years since Neil, Loretta, Justin, Nic, Gavin, Simon and I started our journey with him on cross sector collaboration back then.
Something in the Farrell review about PLACE had sparked him off.
I thought not. I thought that the key to good design was more learnt through collaboration, experience and application of taught principles- with day to day translation of technical terminology rather than need for codification into a common language leading to possible enentitlement of Qualification in Design Literacy.
I am pleased to say after two thought provoking days at the summer school (hosted by Loughborough University, Mabers Architects and Leicester City Council) Rob pulled together this week, I have changed my view. Rob will post a full write up here on the site shortly but I loved the energetic conversations across academic, council and practitioner perspectives which seemed to coalesce into something. If not Design Literacy, then what?
From unrealised concepts of wave pools in Milton Keynes through to the invocations on the need to centre on people and health, the importance of graphic design in navigating and establishing a sense of place (in real places) and the role of art in our development of place- it was a heady mix.
I particularly enjoyed some bridging of architectural and planning perspectives which confirmed my long held views that both professions are aiming for similar outcomes. To me the event was a delight.
There is no Qualification in Design Literacy in the offing but more conversations like the ones held this week will surely improve a shared appreciation of what these words might mean in practice.
Thanks to all those who attended and contributed- we need to do more of this.
Vibrant Leicester: Buzz and the New Urban Economy – Thursday 10th January 2019
To start the New Year there will be an event on the findings of an exciting local research project into the dynamics of ‘buzz’ in helping shape the new urban economy in a city like Leicester. It has been argued that ‘buzz’ is said to emerge from the concentration of socially and culturally significant sites, such as music venues, restaurants and bars, cultural quarters, and marketplaces.
Such ‘buzzy’ sites are key urban amenities that are believed to attract ‘talent’, make cities ‘liveable’, and are thus imagined to be vital to the economic competitiveness of cities. Exploring recent investment in the urban environment of the city centre, a series of short talks will look to unpack the concept and explore what it practically means for the future development of a place like Leicester.
The event will feature contributions from the team leading the research project out of the University of Leicester: Dr Stefano De Sabbata, Prof Gavin Brown and Dr Ben Coles. Prof Loretta Lees will chair the event. A Q+A session will follow.
The event will start at 5:30pm and take place at the LCB Depot on Rutland Street. The bar will be open for purchasing drinks.
This event is in partnership with: LCB Depot and CAMEo (Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies).
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Save the date
Wednesday 9th January 2019: ‘Transition to electric car mobility’ (Prof Kambiz Ebrahimi – Loughborough University). 5:00pm / West Park Teaching Hub, Loughborough. Free:
Friday 25th January 2019: ‘Violence, Authority, Cultures and Communities in Sussex and Kent c.1690-1760’ (Dr Lyndsay Poore – University of Leicester). 12:30pm / Leicester Adult Education College, 54 Belvoir Street. Free:
What makes for a creative place in arts, media and cultural production? What are the different ways in which people make creative places more inclusive, collaborative and communitarian?
Four speakers will reflect on the nature of creative place-making in a diverse range of cities, towns and international contexts:
Fabrizio Montanari (UNIMORE, Italy),
Geoff Litherland (Co-director of Haarlem Artspace, Wirksworth),
Paula Serafini (CAMEo, Leicester)
& Prof Loretta Lees (Leicester Urban Observatory / University of Leicester).
Brought to you by the University of Leicester is the first in a new set of partner provided seminars which is being developed to support of the main ‘City Series’ lecture programme.
The Satellite Seminars are intended to provide a more focussed opportunity to join one of the Observatory partner organisations in discussing a topic in more detail than the main City Series programme which is aimed at a more general interest audience.
The event will start at 5:00pm in LT2 Lecture Theatre 2, Bennett Building (University of Leicester). Registration is not required
Seminar summary from Richard: “I’m studying a small city (population 30,000) 60 miles north of New York City that underwent a steep decline in the late 20th century and is starting to rebound. The people moving there are mostly middle class and finding New York City unaffordable. They are in their late 20s-40s, established in their careers, want to maintain a certain urban lifestyle (to live in a place that’s walkable, bikeable, diverse, architecturally interesting), and have to commute to New York City infrequently if at all. The artisan, light manufacturing, and arts economies are also expanding, as some new retail (a farm-to-table restaurant, cafes, a clothing boutique) have opened. Meanwhile, the city is remarkably poor with a lot of crime, drugs, and abandoned and vacant properties. My initial macro-level thoughts revolve around the idea that the gentrification story in large, successful cities like New York is continuing in smaller nearby cities as the middle class gets priced out (low-income folks are obviously too poor to leave).”
The University of Leicester, De Montfort University Leicester School of Architecture, Loughborough University and Leicester City Council recently hosted the inaugural Leicester Urban Summer School, exploring how architecture, history, urban design and policy are contributing to the city’s regeneration.
Organised by the University of Leicester (UoL) on behalf of the Leicester Urban Observatory – a partnership between DMU, Leicester City Council, Loughborough University and UoL – the two day summer school aims to establish itself as a key annual event for those interested in studying urban issues.
Day 1 Friday 30th June 2017
Delegates were welcomed by Professor Simon Gunn from the Centre for Urban History at UoL, who had been the main inspiration behind the event.
Professor Gunn challenged them to use the Summer School to reconsider and revalue Leicester from a range of perspectives throughout the two days.
Designing Leicester
DMU’s Neil Stacey kicked off the interactive sessions with an architectural design workshop at the University of Leicester.
setting the challenge….Will it fit?
The workshop challenged small groups to transform Leicester’s Soar Island into the ideal community- using scale plans, delegates rose to tackling the spatial questions faced by real life site planning considerations.
Perceptive conclusions were drawn- to be informed and maybe re-evaluated by a site visit later in the day.
strong opinions….
Multicultural Leicester
Professor Loretta Lees, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Leicester, then took the floor to lead an insightful discussion on multicultural Leicester- drawing comparative thinking from global academic perspectives through to the City’s current population composition and make up.
The City is almost uniquely placed to take advantage of it’s diversity and character- a subject which generated much discussion about how a Leicester approach might help define a city model of multiculturalism going forward.
Leicester’s letters- a look and learn workshop
In the afternoon DMU welcomed delegates for an urban typography workshop led by Dr. Robert Harland, a Lecturer in Visual Communication (Graphic Design) at Loughborough University.
Attendees had the chance to compare the ornate and decorative graphic detail found on older buildings in Leicester to the more vivid and dynamic styles which have emerged in modern times, as well as to complete a simple but challenging typographic design exercise.
Training…..Judgement
peer review
Thanks to DMU for photographs
Rob was critically incisive in his assessment of the delegates efforts- an eye opening and thought provoking session which brought home how design and visual appreciation is a skill and an art which we all have- to a greater, or lesser extent…..
Regenerating Leicester Waterside
The first day concluded with a session by Grant Butterworth, Head of Planning at Leicester City Council, concluded the day with a tour of the City’s Waterside and workshop in the newly refurbished Friars Mill.
The session asked attendees to role-play the position of the developer or that of the planner, with a lively debate ensuing during a ‘live’ review of the regeneration of the Leicester Waterside.
Negotiations were at times heated, good-humoured and passionate- but disappointingly the debates fell somewhat short of a happy and agreed consensus between developer and ‘elected’ Planning authorities.
Mr Butterworth declined to elaborate on how reflective of real life this outcome was.
A reception kindly sponsored by the University of Leicester and ongoing discussion followed through into an informal evening dinner and drinks which concluded the first day’s events.
Day 2: Saturday 1st July 2017
Engaging Challenges
Professor Lees and Grant Butterworth led an interactive discussion on how could municipal authorities more effectively engage with diverse communities and stakeholders .
This is a major issue for planning and regeneration- delegates tested opinions and perspectives which provided a broad range of insights.
Mr Butterworth committed to seek to take on board suggestions in the Council’s upcoming activities.
Urban Trails
Colin Hyde (East Midlands Oral History Archive, University of Leicester) held a masterclass exposition on the history and art of developing Town Trails.
Leicester unique track record of producing a variety of trails of the city’s assets presents a fascinating history of encouraging people to experience the city at first hand- a theme central to the Summer School’s agenda.
Keynote Lecture:
Leicester’s Changing Landscape: the city and modern architecture since 1945
Elain Harwood (Historic England) drew proceedings to a close with a tour de force presentation on the City’s modern architectural offer. A packed house was captivated by Elain’s energy, passion, knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject.
A unique asset
The keynote was a fitting conclusion to the Summer School which sought to encourage a Revaluing of the City.
The breadth of debate and discussion was a clear endorsement of confidence and value placed upon the city by a wide range of participants, and different perspectives of partners allowed a new understanding and evaluation of what makes the city special.
(courtesy of Colin Hyde of the east Midlands Oral History Archive)
Partners are already in discussion about how to build on the event and any feedback or comments in this respect would be very welcome via this blog.
Thanks must go to all the delegates for their enthusiastic participation, the contributors and hosts, but in particular to the efforts of Sally Coleman and Professor Simon Gunn at UoL and Justin Webber at the City Council, without whom it really wouldn’t have happened.
The next free talk will be delivered by Loretta Lees on Tuesday 28th March 2017 and will focus on urban gentrification, a subject in which she is an international expert. Loretta is a Professor in Human Geography and Director of Research in Geography at the University of Leicester and was one of the founding members of Leicester Urban Observatory. The talk will draw on her recently published book ‘Planetary Gentrification’. A debate on the implications of Loretta’s talk to the city will follow. The event will start at 5:15pm and Bishop Street Methodist Church have kindly agreed to host the event. Booking is available online using the link below:
Such ‘buzzy’ sites are key urban amenities that are believed to attract ‘talent’, make cities ‘liveable’, and are thus imagined to be vital to the economic competitiveness of cities. Exploring recent investment in the urban environment of the city centre, a series of short talks will look to unpack the concept and explore what it practically means for the future development of a place like Leicester.
LEICESTER URBAN OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE 