Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

My paper draws upon research into what I have termed culture-led housing in the UK and the social, economic, political, and cultural processes that have enabled such developments. My definition of culture-led housing includes housing projects that have either been initiated by artists/cultural workers or have included them as a key factor/party in their development. Artists may be included as utopian designers or signifiers of characteristics that contribute towards the positive marketing of an area/development. Culture-led housing can be designed with the purpose of providing houses for artists or with artists for the purpose of housing a wider community. Despite the increasing popularity of ‘culture-led housing’ projects, little research has been published that examines the complex nature of recent relationships that have emerged between artist and developer: artists as developers and developers as cultural producers. It is this relationship that my paper will examine through the lens of culture-led housing. To do so, I draw upon historical and theoretical research into radical housing models, my own experiences as an artist involved in culture-led housing projects in London, and the extensive embedded research I have conducted over the past eight years through my project ‘ASSET ARREST’. Questions I will explore include: can ‘culture-led housing’ provide a radical alternative to financialized housing models and in doing so resist processes of gentrification? And, if property developers can profit from working with artists, can artists provide radical housing alternatives within a culture of crisis?