Makers of Architecture Programme 2025
Makers of Architecture is a practice-led programme that places design at the heart of social transformation. Exploring space as a tool for equity, care, and belonging. Working hands-on with communities to co-create environments that are not only functional, but rooted in care. Through iterative making, critical reflection, and collaborative build processes, we’re cultivating a new design language for spatial practitioners to design with purpose and build with empathy.
About the Programme
Infrastructures of Care: Designing Dignity is a 4-week, hands-on, community-rooted live-build programme that invites emerging spatial designers from architecture, interior, and design backgrounds to collaboratively co-design and outfit a new home for Lucy’s Pantry, a vital food justice and food sovereignty initiative based in Walsall.
This is not just about building a space, it’s about reimagining how we design for care. Over the course of the programme, participants will engage in co-design workshops with community members, develop context-sensitive design responses, and work together to bring the new pantry to life through a live-build process. Participants will also explore the social, emotional, and spatial infrastructures needed to support dignity, resilience, and joy in everyday life.
This programme centres collaboration, care, and radical creativity. It is for those who believe that design can be a tool for justice, who are excited to learn by doing, and who want to make a tangible difference alongside others.
A space for experimenting, listening, making, and building futures that are rooted in empathy, dignity, and community-led design.
Key Details
Programme Name: Infrastructures of Care
Duration: 4 weeks
Time Commitment: 2 sessions per week (plus optional self-led time)
Location: Online/ in person - Walsall
Places Available: 12
You Will-
Engage with the pantry team and the local community
-
Co-develop a design brief centered on dignity, accessibility, and care
-
Create design interventions (layouts, furniture, visual identity, etc.)
-
Build and install your designs in a live community setting
-
Present your work in a final showcase and reflection session
You’ll Gain
✔ Real-world experience on a socially impactful live project
✔ Skills in participatory design, spatial storytelling, and sustainable fabrication
✔ Mentorship and peer collaboration
✔ Portfolio-ready outcomes
✔ A certificate of completion and letter of reference (on request)-
We welcome current students or recent graduates (within 3 years) in architecture, interior design, or spatial practice. We’re especially interested in people who are:
-
Curious and community-minded
-
Open to hands-on learning
-
Committed to creating more just and dignified spaces
No prior construction experience needed. Just a willingness to care, show up, and collaborate.
We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage those from underrepresented groups in design to apply.-
Submit a short expression of interest (max 300 words) and a sample of your work (PDF or online portfolio) by 16th May 2025 11.59 PM here.
Changing the Way the World Does Business
Building Lasting Relationships