Lawrence Lek & Public Assembly: Penthouse 4C
When I was discussing Penthouse 4C with Lawrence the day previous, he mentioned an observation he had that the space created in the foyer of the Barbican is often used as a domestic space by visitors. Various reasons were discussed for this - mainly emanating from decisions he and Public Assembly had made around making as minimal an intervention to space as possible. Using domestic lighting, carpeting and an elevation of floor space, Lawrence and Public Assembly have staged an insection of the public space at the Barbican. Furnishing gives a subtle suggestion of another space, another habitat. This sense of domesticity is no more prevalent than now, where unfolding behind me in real time, a family with their accompanying dynamics have taken up residence. A girl is rolling around on one of the sofas reappropriated from the Barbican, blowing a recorder with piercing inaccuracy, her younger brother is providing a composer-less vocal accompaniment and food provided by their mother is digested mainly by the carpet. I have just heard “I’m about to lose my temper” and the girl with the recorder has been banished to ‘over there’ - the public translation of ‘go to your room’.
The space does allow for a release of formality that perhaps is not provided for in the rest of the building. For myself in text form, I want to use the discussion of Penthouse 4C as a break in the formality of my writing so far. Talking about the space allows for subjectivity, as I have also been one of the habitual inhabitants. I confess that I have slipped off a shoe or fantasised about replacing the light bulbs in the cute lamps with more environmentally friendly versions. Similarly, for now, I have slipped away from worrying about my self imposed word count or the sacrilegious application of I. Lawrence is referred to by his first name, a more familiar mode of address than the standard repetition of the last name in most art criticism. In summary, it’s refreshing to get the chance to say hello to the colloquial in a formal setting, which I assume is why Penthouse 4C has become a vibrant destination within the Barbican complex.
Notions of public space form an ongoing dialogue for Lawrence and Public Assembly. Lawrence considers Penthouse 4C a framework for exchange, a platform for further projects, a space to explore the continuity of the ‘event’, a residency, a stage for performance and talks, a place to eat sandwiches at lunchtime, a microcosm of Hack the Barbican, a transference of existing activity (e.g. people working on laptops), a point to form a critical mass and a site for any other (legitimate?) activity that the HTB community or the general public need to negotiate. On other terms, Penthouse 4C is a half size replica of the most privileged flat in the Barbican. Lawrence has brought this space to ground, so the community / the public can utilise its dimensions. It could be read initially as talking about the commercial systems of the city. Lawrence mentioned that within the square mile, there is a cultural and architectural pressure to always look up and beyond your current grounded position. Penthouse 4C pulls down these lofty ambitions and therefore, opens up the space for other activity that extends beyond property, the symbolic materialisation of monetary advancement.
According to Lawrence this transfer of Penthouse 4C from the top to the bottom, could be considered as social-economic hack. A broader definition of hacking he offered was a cut through something, which relates loosely to a spatial meaning for hacking and perhaps has a basis in Lawrence’s architectural education. We did discuss that hacking has become a fashionable term due to its relationship with technology. Another explanation of hacking provided came from the tech community, where hacking could be used to break apart systems and as proof of technological prowess. Finally, a further observation of his was the particular way those who were engaging with communities for their HTB project. They were hacking the institutional setting by inviting in those who may not usually visit the Barbican to come and inhabit the space. The notion of what the public is in this sense becomes something very subjective in this context - depending on the social networks of the individual and posed further questioning for Lawrence.
By way of summary from this discussion, it could be concluded that like architectural systems, of which Penthouse 4C is a good example, hacking is an enacted proposal for many routes or definitions of activity.
