Urban Studies - Trust Annual Report 1993
Chippindale Venture
As no doubt most Preservation Trust members are aware, the Chippindale Venture was set up to educate young people about their built-up environment and inheritance.
This year is the 900th Anniversary of the Foundation of Winchester Cathedral and it was felt appropriate to undertake a project within the Cathedral environs. A brief was set for a temporary theatre building to be placed in a position of their choice. The children had to evaluate the context, history, including archaeological problems, landscape as well as the more mundane problems associated with such a project. Three different schools took part, a primary school, a preparatory school and G.C.S.E. students from a secondary school.
The programme lasted over a period of about eight weeks culminating in the final day at the Cathedral, where the results were on display and the critiques were undertaken by the town planners.
The Urban Studies Committee would like to thank all those who helped on this project. Many put in long hours of their spare time. Without exception all the planners, landscape architects, teachers, theatre advisors and architects were rewarded by seeing the children going through a steep learning curve and then enthusiastically producing results of which they have been really proud. The level of sophistication surprised everyone.
We would also like to thank the Cathedral for their hospitality, particularly Eleanor John and Canon Walker. Once again we would also like to thank Mr Hillier for presenting young trees to each of the schools; we are most grateful to him for his support of the Venture programme.
The Urban Studies Committee recognise that the Venture programme reaches very few children. This Autumn, we are widening the programme and introducing the Chippindale Workshop 1. This will be a 'one-day' event involving one school and using a similar but simplified programme to the Chippindale Venture. We are following this with a 'one-day' programme early next year.
Finally, with the experience gained, we are producing a written document incorporat¬ing all the architectural briefs that we have used, together with the results and directions so that other bodies can introduce the ideas to their localities and thereby bring the opportunity to a wider audience.