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URBAN LEARNERS is an award winning, not-for-profit, education and design agency dedicated to improving creative, heritage, and cultural opportunities for Communities, Children, and Young People.

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🌠 Archival research at The Cosmic House, the histo

🌠 Archival research at The Cosmic House, the historically rich former home of Charles and Maggie Jencks, brought us to the incredible library space where we explored Jencks’ vast collection of books, catalogues and publications. He was a writer, critic, designer and teacher, and is best known for his influential writing discussing post-modernism.

The archival resources will support the second series of workshops with sixth form students, introducing them to the Jencks’s and Postmodernism at The Cosmic House. From their exploration of the house, they will then create collages and designs inspired by the house, symbolism, cosmology, historical referencing, double coding and ornament/ decoration.

💛 We look forward to sharing with you the journey towards and through this upcoming programme!

Archive material references:

1. David A. Hanks, Anne Hoy, ‘Design for Living: Furniture and Lighting 1950-2000’, 2000
2. Charles Jencks, ‘Post-modernism: The New Classism in Art and Architecture’, 1987
3. Christopher Wilk, ‘Modernism: Designing a New World’, 2006
4. Wolfgang Pehnt, ‘Expressionist Architecture’, 1973
5. Charles Jencks, ‘Symbolic Architecture’, 1985
6. a+u (Architecture and Urbanism, 建築と都市) Extra Edition, ‘Charles Jencks: Towards Symbolic Architecture’ translated from its original Japanese title, ‘チャールズ・ジェンクス：象徴的建築をめさして’, 1986
7. Festival of India, Edited by Carmen Kagal, ‘Vistara: The Architecture of India’, 1986
8. Micheal Collins, Edited by Andreas Papadakis, ‘Post-modern Design’, 1989
9. Victoria and Albert Museum, Edited by Glenn Adamson and Jane Pavitt, ‘Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990’, 2011
10. Patricia Conway and Robert Jensen, ‘Ornamentalism: The New Decorativeness in Architecture & Design’, 1982
11. Christopher Wilk, ‘Modernism: Designing a New World’, 2006
12. David A. Hanks, Anne Hoy, ‘Design for Living: Furniture and Lighting 1950-2000’, 2000
13. Charles Jencks, Revised Enlarged Version, ‘Language of Post Modern Architecture’, 1977
14. Charles Jencks, ‘Post-modernism: The New Classism in Art and Architecture’, 1987
15. Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, ‘Learning from Las Vegas’, 1972

💜 Year 8 participants (13 year olds) and their art

💜 Year 8 participants (13 year olds) and their art teacher from Regent High School recently had a wonderful discussion about the archiLEARNERS programme, revisiting how they stepped into the role of designers, thinkers and community advocates through the ‘Shaping Playful Spaces’ programme in March.

🌞 We were inspired by their reflections, particularly how being given the tools, trust and creative freedom to reimagine their everyday environment deepened their confidence, curiosity and understanding of their local urban area.

🫶🏼 A huge thank you to @youngcamdenfoundation Brighter Futures Fund and @shaftesburyplc Shaftesbury Capital, whose generosity made this programme with Regent High School possible.

#steamlearning #publicart #urbandesign #creativity #urbanlearners

“I was so excited to see our art in a gallery!” Me

“I was so excited to see our art in a gallery!” Mentioned one participant from The Aldgate School Art Club.

✨ One of three groups participating in the Sculpture in the City Family & Community Programme, Aldgate School Art Club explored art and architecture in the City of London through their chosen lens shape which inspired their artwork ‘Dendrarboreal’.

🔹 Students, parents and teachers reimagined City shapes and structures in seven bold freestanding sculptures which were displayed on plinths in the Main Gallery at Guildhall Art Gallery as part of the City Creators Family Day: Community Takeover.

💛 It was such an incredible team effort to bring the artwork together. A huge thank you to the City of London Corporation’s CIL Neighbourhood Fund for supporting the programme!

📸 Photographs by Phoebe Ireland.

#urbanlearners #sculptureinthecity #creativity #cityoflondon

If Stone Could Speak: Written in Stone 📣 We gathe

If Stone Could Speak: Written in Stone

📣 We gathered at Temple Bar for Written in Stone, the closing panel of our If Stone Could Speak engagement programme for the London Festival of Architecture.

Three exceptional voices took the floor:

→ Edwin Heathcote — Architecture & Design Critic, Financial Times.

→ Neal Shasore — architectural historian and founder of the School of Building.

→ Rebecca Thompson — Director of Property, St Paul’s Cathedral, and President of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.

Each chose a stop from our City Stone Map; from the myths around the London Stone, to post-war renewal at St Lawrence Jewry, to St Paul’s and the Wren Centre of Excellence. Each asking what stone tells us about belonging, deep time, and a City built, worn smooth, and rebuilt again and again.

⚠️ But one question kept returning: who will carry these crafts forward? The UK needs nearly a million new recruits across construction and heritage, with stonemasonry among the most in-demand, yet the workforce is ageing and rarely under 35.

And these opportunities aren’t reaching everyone. Just 16% of people in creative careers come from working-class backgrounds. That’s the gap we want to close. The evidence is clear: young people with real encounters with industry are far less likely to end up out of work or education, and those facing the greatest disadvantage have the most to gain.

💚 Programme developed by Cheapside Business Alliance, the City of London Corporation and URBAN LEARNERS for #LFA2026.

📸 Cheapside Business Alliance

Thank you to our speakers @heathcoteedwin, @nshasore Rebecca Thompson @stpaulscathedrallondon, to all the incredible guests who attended and contributed to the evening. And to all those who made the evening and entire programme possible and for believing in us ❤️ Please see thanks in the comments 👇 below.

#IfStoneCouldSpeak #Stonemasonry #HeritageSkills #UrbanLearners

THE MUSEUM OF BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE 📣 One of our

THE MUSEUM OF BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE

📣 One of our most ambitious initiatives is the Museum of Brutalist Architecture (MoBA), which brings together community voices, building histories, lived experiences, educational resources, and a growing living archive of Brutalist architecture from across the UK.

🫶🏼 MoBA, the UK’s first digital museum of brutalist architecture, celebrates the people and stories who have contributed to and inspired much of our national cultural and heritage landscape.

📸 We’ve curated the stories of artists, poets, designers, photographers, architects, and many more to research, document, and share the stories behind the places that matter to them.

We share exhibitions ranging from photographic and artistic interpretations of the brutalist buildings themselves, dance interpretations, immersive art, the birth of grime music, and much more.

The FREE digital map is a UK national asset and you can use this and see the digital exhibitions by visiting:

museumofbrutalistarchitecture.org
or follow MoBA Instagram Page
Or click link in BIO ☝️

If you’d like to know more about MoBA or would like to contribute please do contact us.

❤️ Thank you to all of our supporters and contributors over the last few years who have supported our vision.

@c20society @historicengland @riba PIX @theconcretecentre @southendmuseums @barbicancentre @gwhale_photo @clayton.rob @notreallyobsessive @tomizlav @steffiklenzart @ejdd.photography @clickclickjim @allan.sylvester.71 @beton_brut (Kimberley Harris) @mattdransfield @brutalbasil @georgewhale_ @charlystardust @easternblocaesthetic

#UrbanLearners #MuseumOfBrutalistArchitecture #MoBA #BrutalistArchitecture #Brutalism

📣 Come visit the IF STONE COULD SPEAK PAVILION loc

📣 Come visit the IF STONE COULD SPEAK PAVILION located between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge. *EXHIBITION NOW EXTENDED UNTIL 15th July.

💚 This free programme was developed by Cheapside Business Alliance the City of London Corporation and URBAN LEARNERS as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2026.

#LFA2026 #Belonging #Culture #London #urbanlearners

📸 Photography and Image credits URBAN LEARNERS and Cheapside Business Alliance / Mickey Lee

❤️ Local young designers and place shapers explori

❤️ Local young designers and place shapers exploring and prototyping their ‘Shaping Playful Spaces’ ideas at Kings Cross.

The co-design process over several weeks resulted in brilliant ideas for making the everyday more joyful and introduced play to public seating, street furniture and even bollards!

The public realm ideas focussed on interpreting day to day objects and making them more engaging and fun.

🫶🏽 Big love to @youngcamdenfoundation and their Brighter Futures Fund @shaftesburyplc for supporting the programme. @regent_highschool @kingscrossn1c

#codesign #urbanlearners #kingscross
#archilearners #creativelearning

📣 We’re carving stone outside @stpaulscathedrallon

📣 We’re carving stone outside @stpaulscathedrallondon. Come take a look at this brilliant activity where we learn from the experts @payestoneworkandrestoration all about carving and the use of stone in our buildings.

💚 The programme is by Cheapside Business Alliance, City of London Corporation and URBAN LEARNERS

#LFA2026 #Stone #craft #london #urbanlearners

@cheapsideba @cityoflondoncorp

📸 URBAN LEARNERS

📣 TALK: URBAN LEARNERS will be telling the story

📣 TALK: URBAN LEARNERS will be telling the story of our place, identity and belonging in the City with guest speakers Edwin Heathcote (Architecture and Design critic. The Financial Times and editor in chief at Reading Design), Neal Shasore (Historian and Founder of the School of Building), Rebecca Thompson (Director of Property, St Paul’s Cathedral) and Venetia Wolfenden (Architect, educator and founder of URBAN LEARNERS). Through the lens of ‘mapping’ the speakers will explore the City as an ever-evolving place where every layer of history, from Roman foundations to contemporary space, is ‘written in stone’.

👆 23 June 6-8:30pm Event details in BIO or incheapside.com/stone
📍 Temple Bar, Paternoster Square, London

🫶 Thank you to all the contributors and guests @londonfestivalofarchitecture @cheapsideba @cityoflondoncorp and to @temple_bar_london for hosting our talk

💚 This programme is brought to you by Cheapside Business Alliance, the City of London Corporation and URBAN LEARNERS

#LFA2026 #Culture #London #heritage #urbanlearners

📸 Photography and Image credits URBAN LEARNERS

📣 Guildhall Art Gallery and URBAN LEARNERS family

📣 Guildhall Art Gallery and URBAN LEARNERS family day Saturday 13th June 11am to 4pm

📍 If Stone Could Speak Pavilion, Peter’s Hill junction with St Paul’s Churchyard South and Guildhall Art Gallery

❤️ WELCOME FAMILIES to the City of London Saturday for drop in events, tours and trails, activities and fun for the family. At the Pavilion you’ll be able to experience STONE rubbing, WEAVING, Sketching and GAMES. DROP IN – No booking required.

❤️ You’ll also be able to BUILD Dream Dens as part of the London Festival of Architecture inside the incredible Guildhall Art Gallery! who are inviting families to feel at home in the space and build their DREAM DEN inspired by City structures and London landmarks.

❤️ In the City and as approaching the Gallery, you’ll will notice the streets taken over for NOCTURNE - a celebration of cycle racing in the centre of the City. There will be lots of ways for you and your family to enjoy all things two wheeled, including a chance to ride the circuit yourselves.

💚 These programmes are brought to you by Guildhall Art Gallery, Cheapside Business Alliance, the City of London Corporation, URBAN LEARNERS and racenocturne.com

🫶 @londonfestivalofarchitecture @cheapsideba @cityoflondoncorp @thecityofldn @guildhallartlondon @racenocturne

#LFA2026 #Belonging #Culture #London #ifstonecouldspeak urbanlearners

📸 Photography and Image credits, Guildhall Art Gallery, Nocturne.com, URBAN LEARNERS

📣 Making and remaking at tonight’s stone lifecycle

📣 Making and remaking at tonight’s stone lifecycle workshop with @cskarchitectsuk. Thank you to @temple_bar_london for hosting the workshop as part of @londonfestivalofarchitecture

❤️ Thanks to @cheapsideba and @cityoflondoncorp

📸 URBAN LEARNERS

📣 The ‘If Stone Could Speak Pavilion’ is the lates

📣 The ‘If Stone Could Speak Pavilion’ is the latest work by URBAN LEARNERS, the London based cultural agency whose practice has spent almost a decade making art, architecture, and heritage genuinely accessible. It is part of the London Festival of Architecture 2026 and celebrates the launch of new granite seating around St Paul’s Cathedral as well as telling the story of stone, its geology, and our place in that lifecycle.

The pavilion itself is an object of quiet structural simplicity. Three pillars of hand-tooled aluminium rise from gabion bases packed with medieval carved stone, fragments of the city’s deeper biography collected originally by the Museum of London Archaeology department and generously loaned by PAYE Stonework & Restoration.

Each tube has been individually worked by the URBAN LEARNERS team, shaped by hand and finished with care, referencing the boring rods and breaking bars of the quarry, the instruments by which stone is persuaded to leave the earth. At the summit of each pillar, the tubes bend and reach toward one another, connecting in a continuous loop: part historical arch, part eternity symbol, part social truth. We move through cities largely alone. At certain moments, in certain places, we find one another. Each pillar carries a single word. Ephemeral. Eternity. Belonging. The structure will stand for weeks. The stone at its feet has endured for centuries.

Cascading from the arcs are panels of coloured acrylic, coral, cobalt, orange, lime, burgundy, that shift and lift in the wind, a direct reference to the heraldic colours of the livery companies and guilds whose halls stand within walking distance and who formed the foundations of the City.

❤️ The URBAN LEARNERS ‘If Stone Could Speak Pavilion’ is made possible by Cheapside Business Alliance and City of London Corporation and with the generous support of PAYE Stonework & Restoration.

📍 St Paul’s Churchyard and Peter’s Hill, City of London

#LFA2026 #PublicArt #Architecture #Belonging #urbanlearners

📸 Photography URBAN LEARNERS

📣 Something powerful is happening within some of t

📣 Something powerful is happening within some of the most socially and economically disadvantaged school communities and it starts with giving young people the belief that their ideas matter. 🏛️✂️

👏🏽 Participating students are stepping into the roles of designers, thinkers, and community advocates through our archiLEARNERS programme. They’re questioning the ordinary, imagining the extraordinary, and creating spaces that spark JOY and CONNECTION for the communities and places around them.

But here’s what makes this truly different:

✅ 95% of participating young people say they would now consider a career in the built environment industries.
✅ We blend Sixth Form students with younger pupils, creating genuine peer mentorship and leadership, not just passive learning.
✅ Every theme is curriculum aligned, so schools gain real educational value, not just an enrichment add on.
✅ Pupils don’t just learn about design they become community changemakers and feel positively valued.

🫶🏼 URBAN LEARNERS bring archiLEARNERS into local schools, leaving a lasting impact on young people, their schools, and the neighbourhoods you care about.

❤️ If your organisation has a commitment to the communities where you build, invest, or operate please contact us or link in ☝🏽BIO ☝🏽 to find out more about archiLEARNERS.

📸 Photography Phoebe Ireland and URBAN LEARNERS

#UrbanLearners #archiLEARNERS #SocialValue #BuiltEnvironment #creativelearning

📣 CITY STONE MAP is a FREE map which you can acce

📣 CITY STONE MAP is a FREE map which you can access ☝🏼 from our bio ☝🏼or pick up a paper copy.

❤️ As part of the London Festival of Architecture, the maps tell the story of stone in the City.

🫶 Cheapside Business Alliance, The City of London Corporation and URBAN LEARNERS.

#LFA2026 #Belonging #Culture #London #ifstonecouldspeak visitLondon

📸 Photography and Image credits URBAN LEARNERS

✨ What a day at Guildhall Art Gallery! ✨ We were

✨ What a day at Guildhall Art Gallery! ✨

We were thrilled to lead the CITY CREATORS FAMILY DAY: COMMUNITY TAKEOVER — a joyful celebration marking the culmination of the Sculpture in the City Family & Community Programme.

Over the past few months, we’ve worked closely with more than 100 participants aged 7–90 from three local community groups, exploring art and architecture through a series of creative workshops. Together, they developed three incredible artworks that were showcased throughout the Gallery.

🌞 Light versus Shadow by City of London Primary Academy Islington explored the relationship between light and shadow through collaborative collage.

🔺 Dendraboreal by The Aldgate School celebrated shape and structure through imaginative 3D forms.

👐 Moment by Dragon Café in the City explored materiality, texture and making.

Alongside the exhibition, over 250 visitors joined us for hands-on creative activities including Capturing Light & Shadow, Crafting Materiality, Constructing Shape and City Collage. It was fantastic to bring together so many people creating, experimenting and discovering new ways of seeing the City.

Seeing these artworks celebrated in such a historic setting was a fitting finale, we’re super proud of everyone who took part. 💛 Huge thanks to @Guildhallartlondon for generously hosting us, to all the participants, families and community members who made this programme so special. The Sculpture in the City Family & Community Programme is supported by the City of London Corporation’s CIL Neighbourhood Fund.

📸 Photographs by Phoebe Ireland

#urbanlearners #sculptureinthecity #creativity #cityoflondon #publicart

📣 Come visit the IF STONE COULD SPEAK PAVILION loc

📣 Come visit the IF STONE COULD SPEAK PAVILION located between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge.

🫶 And we’d love you to join the events, sign up for artisan craft days, join guided tours around the City, and much more! As part of the London Festival of Architecture _ June 2026

👆 Link in BIO above for booking places or visit incheapside.com/stone

💚 This programme was developed by Cheapside Business Alliance the City of London Corporation and URBAN LEARNERS

#LFA2026 #Belonging #Culture #visitlondon #publicart

📸 Photography and Image credits URBAN LEARNERS

📣 Join us this June for an exciting FREE cultural

📣 Join us this June for an exciting FREE cultural programme of activities, artisan crafts, tours, and expert talks about STONE, CRAFT and BELONGING.

👆 Link in BIO above for booking places or visit: incheapside.com/stone

We’re celebrating the launch of ‘From the Thames to Eternity’ that transforms historic granite stones from the River Thames walls as new seating outside St Paul’s Cathedral. The stone seats highlight London’s heritage of craftsmanship, architectural history, and sustainable material reuse.

❤️ Come and explore ‘If Stone Could Speak’ our programme of expert-led workshops, walks, and tours, celebrating how built heritage and public space shape identity and community in the City.

🫶 And we’d love you to join the events, sign up for artisan craft days, join guided tours around the City, and much more !

#LFA2026 #Belonging #Culture #London #ifstonecouldspeak

💚 This programme was developed by Cheapside Business Alliance @cheapsideba the City of London Corporation @cityoflondoncorp and URBAN LEARNERS @urban_learners with incredible contributions from so many specialists from artisan stone crafts by @payestoneworkandrestoration the design team for the new seating @cskarchitectsuk @thebartlettucl and @ozruh_official And, for URBAN LEARNERS’ Pavilion and activation programme thanks to the @londonfestivalofarchitecture @payestoneworkandrestoration Amari Recycled Acrylics @amariplastics_el Advanced Digital Graphics @advandigi and engineering by @heynetillettsteel

📸 Photography and Image credits, Clive Totman, PAYE, URBAN LEARNERS

We hope you can join us for the CITY CREATORS FAMI

We hope you can join us for the CITY CREATORS FAMILY DAY: COMMUNITY TAKEOVER

An immersive day at the Guildhall Art Gallery on Saturday 23rd May, from 11am - 4pm.

Across the gallery there will be hands-on, drop-in creative activities and three artworks on display created by local community groups - The Aldgate School, City of London Primary Academy Islington, and Dragon Café in the City.

These works are truly fantastic and celebrate each group’s creative exploration of art and architecture in the City as part of the Sculpture in the City Family and Community programme.

Drop-in activities will include: 🔺 Constructing Shape
🧵 Crafting Materiality ⚡️Capturing Light & Shadow   This event is free and open to all, find out more via the link in bio.  
Supported by The City of London Corporation’s CIL Neighbourhood Fund
 #UrbanLearners #Sculptureinthecity #art #creativity #CityOfLondon

📣 COMMUNITY CULTURE AND ART 🫶🏼 Last week we were

📣 COMMUNITY CULTURE AND ART

🫶🏼 Last week we were working with three incredible communities exploring art and architecture through observation and interpretation.

❤️ And we can’t wait to show you how this all comes together at The Guildhall Art Gallery on 23rd May.

#UrbanLearners #Sculptureinthecity #community #art

Supported by The City of London Corporation’s CIL Neighbourhood Fund

@cityoflondoncorp @thecityofldn @bloomberg @guildhallartlondon

The Cosmic House 📣 This July to November URBAN L

The Cosmic House

📣 This July to November URBAN LEARNERS will once again be at @thecosmichouse exploring Charles Jencks’ symbolic programme with local schools.

🫶🏼 Students will join us for immersive workshops and activities exploring Post-Modernist ideals, aesthetics, and concepts through exploration, observation, and interpretation.

❤️ The current exhibition METAMORPHOSIS ALL THAT CHANGES YOU by @isaacjulien is a a poetic reflection on transformation and change in times of ecological and social crisis. Thank you for such beautiful art. 🙏🏽

#TheCosmicHouse #Urbanlearners #PostModernism #CreativeLearning #ArtEducation

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