{"id":325812,"date":"2025-12-20T03:12:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/325812\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T03:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:12:15","slug":"george-gil-designs-shape-shifting-antepavilion-in-hoxton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/325812\/","title":{"rendered":"George Gil designs \u2018shape-shifting\u2019 Antepavilion in Hoxton"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Antepavilion, installed on the roof of Hoxton Docks, was designed by George Gil, an architect at Dowen Farmer, in collaboration with RARA (The Redundant Architects Recreation Association) and Luke Tannenbaum. They won the commission<\/a> in an open competition last April.<\/p>\n

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The client, arts and architecture charity Antepavilion, previously won a planning battle with Hackney Council over the right to host artworks on the roof of the docks.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s brief asked entrants to consider the three core considerations \u2013 permanence, size and attachment \u2013 enshrined in case law as the tests for what constitutes \u2018development\u2019 and so requires planning consent.<\/p>\n

With a \u00a315,000 construction budget, the structure consists of a 4.8m-diameter freestanding \u2018moon\u2019 made of plywood and stainless steel, designed to change shape or \u2018shapeshift\u2019 depending on the viewer\u2019s position along Regent\u2019s Canal \u2013 reminiscent of the changing phases of the moon.<\/p>\n

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Moonument was prefabricated in 19 segments at RARA in Clapton, Hackney, an open-source workshop and co-working space that provides a testbed for prototyping and making in collaboration with skilled makers. Each module was laminated with its own bespoke curvature in layers of plywood, and faced in 0.9mm stainless steel. These steel \u2018fins\u2019 are designed to throw distorted reflections of the sun, sky and water of the dock below during the day and be backlit and animated by a projection at night.<\/p>\n

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Architect\u2019s view<\/p>\n

Designing and building Moonument was a hugely rewarding learning experience as a young architect. Past Antepavilion commissions captured my imagination as a student, and it\u2019s a privilege to have completed the latest artwork, encouraging playful public engagement on the well-trafficked Regent\u2019s Canal.<\/p>\n

Moonument was originally conceived as an otherworldly lunar illusion of reflections floating over the canal and the recently reinstated SHARKS!<\/a> The months taking the winning idea to physical completion have been a lesson in how the realities of and logistics of construction can actually hone and provide greater meaning to the creative process. Methods of making can themselves reinforce the artistic intent of the abstract story the concept seeks to tell.<\/p>\n

One such example of this was overcoming the challenge of building 19 bespoke laminated plywood modules within tolerance so that each module nested perfectly onto the next. This was overcome creatively by devising a jig table whereby the bespoke curvature of each module could be translated efficiently from the 3D Rhino model to reality. It was inspired by the many boats and canoes that pass the site daily on the canal. This also made it possible for the vast majority of the build to be carried out off-site by myself and Part 2 student Luke Tannenbaum.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful to the competition for providing an outlet for designers to bring ideas for experimental structures and artworks into reality. Opportunities for this often seem few and far between for young designers.
George Gil, architect and designer<\/p>\n

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Client\u2019s view<\/p>\n

The Antepavilion commission has been running for 10 years and is the creation of the long-established Antepavilion artists\u2019 studios organisation. It aims to foster hands-on construction and craftsmanship at the interface of art and architecture by providing facilities, financial support, and public display opportunities.<\/p>\n

Many winning entries have been displayed at the home of Antepavilion on the Regent\u2019s canalside in Hackney. More recently, our SE1 site, close to Elephant and Castle, has been available as an alternative public display location.<\/p>\n

Apart from the essential principles of the competition \u2013 self-build, low-budget construction, and public display \u2013 each year has a specific brief, always for loose interpretation. Moonument met both the general and specific briefs, the latter requiring a strong public presence and a work that served somewhat as a war memorial to the planning fight Antepavilion had for many years with Hackney Council\u2019s efforts to close it down. Among Antepavilion\u2019s public objectives is resistance to authoritarian, over-prescriptive and under-imaginative planning control.<\/p>\n

George Gil\u2019s entry, in collaboration with RARA, chimed well with these objectives. He is a young architect with strong knowledge of materials and how to work them himself. Moonument is visually striking \u2013 particularly at night \u2013 for the many people who walk, cycle, and boat along the Regent\u2019s Canal. The lunar theme has many resonances, especially in relation to the legal tenets planners use when alleging unauthorised development under Section 55 of the TCPA: size, permanence, and attachment.<\/p>\n

The 2026 iteration of the Antepavilion competition will be announced soon.
Shiva, sponsor of Antepavilion competition<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Project data<\/p>\n

Location Hoxton Docks, Hackney, London
Start on site June 2025
Completion date August 2025
Construction cost \u00a315,000
Architect George Gil with RARA (The Redundant Architects Recreation Association) and Luke Tannenbaum
Client Antepavilion
Structural engineer London Structures Lab
Lighting consultant SEAM
CAD software used Rhino 8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s Antepavilion, installed on the roof of Hoxton Docks, was designed by George Gil, an architect at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-325812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}