My Space

Sir John Sorrell introduces My Space, an exhibition about how the places we live impact on the way we feel about ourselves.

Thank you so much for joining us here tonight.

I'm going to tell you a little bit about the thinking behind this exhibition. Then I am delighted that Lord Mawson has been able to join us: someone who knows more than most about the importance of creativity in securing social justice and a better local environment.

This exhibition, My Space, is about identity and architecture. It's about how the places where we live impact on the way we feel about ourselves. The National Portrait Gallery commissioned My Space as part of its outreach and access work. They were interested in the idea of setting - the role of the built environment in portraiture - and young people's perspectives on the idea of place.

We all know that the places where you grow up shape your sense of who you are. A place is a location with a meaning. In many ways, it defines you. But if you are growing up in some of the most deprived parts of Tower Hamlets, Newham and Camden, you could be forgiven for seeking alternative realities. It's now commonplace to form friendships online, and live your life in online games. Yet through this project, groups of young people decided to use their time to engage with the reality of a place being physically transformed.

Throughout last summer, young people aged 12 to 21 worked not only with architects - you'd expect that - but also with textile specialists, photographers, DJs, and mosaic and graffiti artists. Even a poet.

In Tower Hamlets, students from the St Paul's Way Community School created large-scale portraits in their school grounds. Not only is their part of London being transformed - so is their school, one of the first to be completely rebuilt under Building Schools for the Future.

At the Bromley-by-Bow Centre, young people with learning disabilities produced a giant open book, to interpret their own personal ideas about buildings and access.

In King's Cross, vulnerable and homeless young people at the New Horizons Youth Centre created their own 3D structures and their own unique sound portraits.

In Newham, two groups used the media of firstly, mosaics and secondly, photography, to explore issues of regeneration around the Olympic Park development. I love their two contrasting photographic portraits - one taken on their local streets and another taken in a show home.

So this has been an unusual and powerful project in its own right. But I think it also has wider ramifications.

Working with young people is a core part of what CABE does. We exist both to improve the quality of what gets built, and to inspire public demand for good design. You may have seen that the Commons education and skills committee has demanded that creative learning should be taken much more seriously. In fact, they argue that fundamental change is needed in the national curriculum, to make more space for creativity.

We think that built environment education offers a way forward. Buildings and places provide a fantastic resource for creative learning. Often it is relatively under exploited. There is a degree of bureaucracy and a perception of risk which needlessly gets in the way. I personally would like to see every school offer every young person the chance to engage with - and learn through - the buildings and places around us.

With My Space, we have been able to watch young people work with professional artists and designers to explore how buildings and spaces affect their everyday lives. What we hope will come from this is a better understanding of how they can now shape their local surroundings,. And an example of an approach to creative learning which could be replicated anywhere across the country.

In closing, I'd like to make just three points:

Firstly, this is art entirely produced and designed by young people. Even the design for the large scale graffiti came out of a week of workshops. The captions are in their words. I like this aspect of the exhibition a lot - not least because the spirit of a place grows out of its reality, not out of skilful curation.

Secondly, through this project, we are challenging the relationship between architecture and affluence. St Paul's Way School has the highest percentage of free school meals in the UK. This is not a priviliged place. But if you take away one crucial lesson from tonight, it is that good design is for the many, not the few. It belongs to us all. And defines us all. I believe passionately that every young person should have the chance to learn about the architecture of the world in which we live - and the licence to demand good design.

Thirdly, while we know you cannot teach creativity, you can create the space for it to flourish. This exhibition has taught us a lot about how young people can explore their identity and their surroundings creatively, whilst learning core skills along the way.

So - a vote of thanks to the National Portrait Gallery (Sandy Nairne and Rebecca Connock) for such a creative collaboration. And to all of the professionals involved in the project. But most of all, to some exceptional work by the young people involved.

Do encourage your friends to visit My Space - it's on for another two months.

I am delighted now to introduce Lord Mawson. Over the past 24 years Andrew has led the development of the Bromley by Bow Centre in east London. The Centre has pioneered a whole new approach to community regeneration, using the creative arts.

Andrew continues to be heavily involved with revitalising other parts of east London too - from St Paul's Way itself to Water City and Silvertown Quays, the development of the former industrial area at the Royal Docks.

Andrew was ordained as a minister in the Baptist Church - less well known is that he originally trained as a Telecommunications Technician with the GPO. He is behind Community Action Network, a national charity supporting no fewer than 850 social entrepreneurs across the UK.

Andrew, thank you.