Open House Festival Visitors Explore the Curated Public Art at Timber Square
A visit to Timber Square offered a journey through art, architecture and the industrial heritage of the area, as part of this year’s annual Open House Festival. Timber Square comprises the Print Building, a former 1950s printworks that has been considerately reimagined, alongside low-carbon workspace, the Ink Building, built around a former Timber yard. Located in Southwark close to the River Thames and the Tate Modern, Timber Square demonstrates an ambitious net-zero development within the Bankside area. The project was designed by award-winning architects Bennetts Associates, who guided the tours on the day.
Open House Festival visitors were given unique access to explore both the exterior and interior spaces, including the public art pieces, curated and delivered by Hive Curates in partnership with Landsec. Visitors enjoyed a chance to view the three unique, permanent artworks by women artists, Amelia Bowles, Clare Burnett and Akmaral Khassen. Each artist has demonstrated a unique response to the history of the site and the industrial past of the area, that together form a cohesive and captivating assemblage.
The Rhythm of the Printing Press: Evergreen, Amelia Bowles
The Open House Festival tour began inside of the Print Building, where visitors were greeted by the first of the artworks, Evergreen by Amelia Bowles. Hanging from the ceiling of the communal area of the sustainable workspace is the eye-catching site specific artwork. Evergreen is composed of a sequence of panels that reference the industrious repetition of the early printing presses that were once housed in this building. . The sequence of perforated metal panels allow light to filter through creating a shifting experience throughout the day. During the tour, visitors remarked on how calm the piece made them feel, and the impact it had on the overall space.
A Reference to Roman London: Seedlinks, Clare Burnett
Seedlinks by sculptor Clare Burnett, was the second artwork on the tour, with the handmade sculptures created just 50m away from where the pieces are now installed. Comprising a trio of mosaic sculptures, Seedlinks was created using 44,000 individually placed, recycled glass tiles. The artist took reference from a Roman mosaic discovered on nearby Southwark Street. A sense of place was central to Clare’s work, who was inspired by the seeds of the timbers once traded in the historic 18th-century timber yard including mahogany, oak and pine. These shapes have now been brought to life in vibrant cyan, magenta and yellow colours to echo the inks used by IPC Printworks to print their publications on site. Tour attendees were able to interact with the works and see the craftsmanship of the mosaic tiles up close for themselves.
Tracing the Past of Timber Square: The Unwilding, Akmaral Khassen
The tour concluded with the third work in the series, The Unwilding, by artist Akmaral Khassen. Set within the undulating railway arches, the piece shows figurative shapes formed from timber panels, a material that speaks to the site’s history. The backlit murals transform the wallspace, bringing nature-inspired visuals into the urban environment with pine and mahogany-leaf motifs in bright, uplifting blues, reds and yellows. The work evolves throughout the day, as when the light drops down in the evening, the mural lights up, creating a captivating silhouette of the timber shapes. Akmaral’s work reflects the regeneration and the transformation of the square itself, and the importance of timber within Southwark throughout the centuries.
Our thanks to the Open House Festival visitors who came along, all of the exceptional artists Amelia Bowles, Clare Burnett and Akmaral Khassen, to Bennetts Associates for the guided tour and for sharing their architectural insight, and our partners Landsec who commissioned the works.
