Group 11
HUMAN NARRATIVE

working with blackburn-based young persons homelessness charity nightsafe we aim to raise awareness and tackle misconceptions around the homeless young people that utilise such charities using photography and interviews in a 'humans of New York' style we will create a digital and printed marketing publication to illustrate the lives and tell stories from those who experience homelessness and work within the charity

Sally Anne L / Daniel S / Lorenzo LMZ / Alice Josefa B

Daniel S
INTRODUCING OUR TEAM

Sally is from Blackburn and first studied architecture at Nottingham before moving back north to Manchester. Whilst working in practice she worked with Nightsafe to design the Safe@Silas DIYSOS scheme. Sally is interested in conservation architecture, community engaged design and wants to continue working and living in the north west. In her spare time, she practices yoga, enjoys walking and undertaking craft projects.

Lorenzo has moved to the UK to study his masters from Italy, after studying in Milan and New Zealand. He is looking forward to working in the UK and exploring different kinds of architecture in practice. You’ll find Lorenzo teaching first year students on Wednesdays, competing at swimming galas on the weekends and exploring the city in his time off.

Alice is from Devon and completed her undergraduate studies at Cambridge. She worked in a conservation practice during her year out. She is interested in alternative spaces for study and brings this into her role as a teaching assistant for the first years she tutors at MSA. Alice is a talented musician, she plays the cello in an orchestra and enjoys cooking in her spare time.

Daniel is from Sheffield and studied in Nottingham as an undergraduate. He is currently working for an architecture company near Leeds while completing his masters part-time. Daniel is interested in residential architecture, urban design and community led regeneration. In his spare time, you’ll find him socialising with friends, following Sheffield United FC or travelling to new places.
Posted 8 Mar 2020 20:07
Sally Anne L
The charity we will be working with is Nightsafe, based in Blackburn, which supports homeless people aged 16-24. Nightsafe provide a day centre, an emergency night shelter alongside three supported housing projects. Over the last 30 years since Nightsafe was founded they have helped 14,750 young people by giving practical support including food, laundry, showers and life-skills training. They are supported by many local volunteers, residential volunteers as well as permanent staff. We will learn from Nightsafe real human stories about homelessness and help Nightsafe tackle the sitgma against homeless people.
To find out more visit:
https://www.blackburn-nightsafe.org.uk
Posted 10 Mar 2020 09:18
Sally Anne L
you can check out the amazing work our collaborators nightsafe do on the recent BBC television show DIYSOS the big build for Children in Need from November
it features the charity along with the incredible DIYSOS, Children in Need, St Silas and the and hundreds of selfless volunteers from across the north west and country who helped create a new facility to provide supported housing for six young people from the area

https://www.blackburn.anglican.org/news/278/the-story-of-the-bbc-diy-sos-children-in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b9cc
Posted 12 Mar 2020 10:02
Sally Anne L
the supported housing facility that was created features individual dual level rooms with en-suite for 6 young people along with accessible staff and communal facilities, staff room and sleeping area, garden space with planting to the rear and a huge lounge with cosy fireplace and large bright kitchen space for everyone to enjoy with ample facilities like a laundry room and utility.
the building was an old under used parish rooms which pre-date St Silas church next door. The generous community from St Silas donated the building for re-purpose and to help out those in need. The building also sits in a conservation area and within proximity to the listed church. It was interesting to see that during the war the parish rooms was used to house refugees and in its later life the building is continuing to serve the community in housing those most in need of support through the work undertaken by nightsafe. The parish rooms were redesigned and repurposed for the DIYSOS team by conversation architect Jill Cowgill, architect Eleanor Wood and Sally Lofthouse who are all local to the area and hugely enjoyed working on the project and getting it planning permission and completed for this worthy cause

For more information about the project visit:
https://www.blackburn.anglican.org/news/278/the-story-of-the-bbc-diy-sos-children-in
Posted 17 Mar 2020 09:10
Lorenzo LMZ
it is time to be real!
england is facing a horrific homelessness crisis.

280,517 people were estimated homeless in 2019.
23,180 more considering estimated numbers in 2016.

in order to better understand these big numbers, we have to imagine a 1:200 ratio. 1 in every 200 people is homeless!

135,000 children were estimated to live in temporary accommodation in christmas 2019.

it is time to act! even something little, because everything counts.

this shocking data is provided by ‘shelter’.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/
Posted 17 Mar 2020 09:12
Lorenzo LMZ
new week, new data!
from an overview of england to an accurate analysis of the north west.

9,038 people were estimated homeless in 2019,
with a shocking rise of 117% since 2016.

grater manchester counted 5,385 homeless in 2019!

manchester has been classified the 29th worst city in the whole country for homelessness, where 1 every 102 people is categorized as homeless.

5,385 people were estimated homeless only considering this area.

this shocking data is again provided by ‘shelter’.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/
Posted 17 Mar 2020 09:12
Daniel S
In Britain About 2,627 homeless people died in England and Wales from 2013 to 2017. In this period, an estimated 41 deaths occurred in Blackburn with Darwen which is a rate of 7.7 deaths per 100,000 of the population.

Across England and Wales the average is 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people, but in 2017 the figure in Blackburn with Darwen rose to 10.2 deaths per 100,000. This was the highest figure recorded throughout England and Wales.

Data is provided by the 'ONS' (Office for National Statistics).
Posted 17 Mar 2020 09:33
Alice Josefa B
We are challenging our group to re-imagine how to communicate the real stories behind homelessness and Nightsafe. Social media is a powerful way to target a wide audience so we will develop a package of social media posts covering instagram, twitter and facebook for Nightsafe to use.

We will need creative layouts which tell a story as a collection of posts as well as individually. Photography needs to be imaginative to protect the identity of vulnerable people.

We will be using InDesign which some of the students may be less familiar with, a skill we will develop together as a group, and we will have a crash course in photography.
Posted 19 Mar 2020 09:41
Sally Anne L
During our two-week events program B.Arch students will have the opportunity to visit the Nightsafe offices, activity day centre and shelter located in the centre of Blackburn Town Centre in the Boulevard building.

We will take the train from Manchester for a whole day trip on Friday 1st May. Nightsafe's day centre is called Platform 5 due to the close proximity to Blackburn train station.

During the trip we will be introduced to the staff and facilities, we will then give a short presentation on what we are doing and what we have learnt so far during the workshop week. Following a lunch break we will host architectural-craft based workshops, such as building paper straw sky scrapers, pasta bridges and more. We will provide refreshments and get to intreat with the hardworking staff and volunteers at the charity and the users of their services.
We will be spoil into teams to help organise the event and document the activities during the day, including recording conversations, photographing interactions and making a vlog for Nightsafe.

We are really looking forward to this hands on and interactive day and know it will be great fun and a success for everyone involved!!
Posted 21 Mar 2020 11:26
Sally Anne L
SOCIAL VALUE?

What is social value? And why is it so important?

As budding architects and designers we have a responsibility and influence through our work that is far reaching and long lasting.
We can often get bogged down with profit margins, providing efficient designs to commercial developers and loosing that connection with the people who will inevitably inhabit the spaces we have designed. These people will turn our lines on paper into their homes, offices, spaces to chat, spaces for activities, spaces where memories are made.

The introduction of humans turns space, into place.

It is with this in mind that we must consider if we can make a bigger difference or impact through our architecture, by creating extra spaces that provide value to the society around which our building or interventions are located.

RIBA stated in 2018 that:
"Social value has become the holy grail for the profession."

Through this events program we hope to reinforce the importance of the added value we can try to install through our working practice to benefit occupants and communities.

We will provide social value through hour work with Nightsafe and this will hopefully benefit all the students involved too. Making them consider how we could take this out into the world of work and throughout our continual architectural education.
Posted 21 Mar 2020 12:55
Daniel S
Our event focuses on developing three key skills; presentation, software and marketing. Through the use of traditional media and Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign students will be asked create a suite of social media marketing material that can be used by our collaborator, Nightsafe.

The program looks at how narratives can be creatively documented in order to effectively communicate the journey and thus maximise their appeal and exposure. We hope that this will allow Nightsafe’s profile to expand and prove an invaluable tool in the charity’s future.

In today’s world, these skills are vital in the creative industry and we hope that students partaking in the event will benefit in their student and professional lives.
Posted 22 Mar 2020 15:58
Sally Anne L
We will be conducting interviews with members of the nightsafe community for students to convert the stories into visual representations, using photos, key words or phrases and illustrations. This will ensure a wide range of skills are engaged and built upon.

Our concept is loosely based on the humans of New York series which is now a global internet phenomena. It was started by Brandon Stanton, a photographer with a blog, telling the stories of people he met through street photography. It has now expanded, he has released books, has a world wide following and has been able to travel around the globe documenting stories in different countries and raising money for countless charities along with way!
Posted 22 Mar 2020 17:52
Alice Josefa B
During the first week we will learn some new skills and experiment with how to present Nightsafe's stories through social media. Day 1 introduces photography with a fun workshop. Day 2 focuses on transcribing interviews done by the masters students over Easter at Nightsafe. Day 3 has a small competition to find the best presentation method. And the week ends with a trip to Nightsafe in Blackburn where we can meet volunteers, staff and users of Nightsafe and hold our own craft event.
Posted 23 Mar 2020 12:52
Lorenzo LMZ
During the second week, we will put in action what we have learnt from the past few days. Day 4 focuses on writing and drawing the Nightsafe’s stories. Day 5 aims to produce a second draft of all the content previously produced. Day 6 is based on social media and how to address different communication techniques. Day 7 completes our event with the design of a publication that brings all our work together.
Posted 23 Mar 2020 14:49