Written by:
Sophia de Sousa
At The Glass-House, we see one of our key roles as a connector and want to share voices that may not easily find routes into the public domain or that find it difficult to connect with diverse audiences.
We want to create space for people from all walks of life to share stories, to inform, inspire and to put forward propositions for positive systemic change. We are particularly keen to hear from those who approach this with a spirit of generosity, collaboration, creativity, and optimism.
The Glass-House wants to hear what YOU have to say about the connection between people, place and design.
We invite you to contribute a written text, audio or video on the theme of What’s Vital Now?, A Letter to Future Placemakers, Inspired or A Place I Love.
Please read on for a mini brief for each of these themes.
What’s Vital Now?
We invite you to share one “What if…?” proposition for a shift in culture, policy or practice, a new approach or project idea to help us better shape our places. Your idea should link to one or more of the themes of connection, power, sustainability, or diversity. This could also include a reflection on a current or past crisis if that feels appropriate. This series is not a space for promoting programmes or products but instead, for putting forward creative, innovative and even challenging ideas and propositions, big or small, for doing things differently in the future.
You can read, watch and listen to contributions from others here.
A Letter to Future Placemakers
Send an aspirational and provocative letter to those who will shape our buildings, spaces and neighbourhoods of the future. What should they be thinking about as they plan for the future of our built and natural world? How can we collectively work to ensure they are equitable, inclusive and delightful places? This is your chance to challenge both present and future placemakers with a call to action.
You can read A Letter to Future Placemakers blogs written by others here
Inspired
This series is a space to celebrate what you see as the ideas, processes and projects that are pushing boundaries to empower people and communities to shape their places. We want to hear, in your words, about a place, project, programme or initiative (not your own but one you have encountered) that you think should be shared, and about how it has inspired you. We are particularly interested in celebrating “inspired” approaches, whether complex or very simple, to enabling civic leadership and cross-sector collaboration in shaping buildings, open spaces, homes or neighbourhoods.
You can read Inspired blogs written by others here.
A Place I Love
Tell us about a place that you love, talking about where this place is, what makes it special and why it is so important to you. Find or take a photo, video or audio recording of yourself in this place, OR create an artistic impression of yourself in this place. We want to hear from and share the voices of people from all walks of life and of all ages and inspire those leading design and placemaking initiatives to engage a diverse range of people in shaping them.
You can read A Place I Love blogs written by others here.
How to contribute to any of these series
We are happy to receive contributions in a range of formats that might include text, images, video and audio content, which we will share both through our website and our social media channels.
These might include:
- Write a blog of 600 – 800 words including at least 2 images (which should be appropriately captioned and credited and licence-free)
- Create a video (MP4) or audio piece (MP3) for us to share on the blog and through social media (3 minutes maximum)
Please include your name, affiliation and a short bio about yourself.
Get in Touch
Please send your enquiries / contributions to the attention of Louise Dennison.