Make
Inspiring stories of design and creativity
How do we design, create and make places that can have lasting social impact? What are the materials, design principles and metrics to use? How do these moves relate to each other and what needs to happen to accelerate their adoption?
Our Panel Lead
From the world’s first cast-iron-framed building at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings to the new London Museum at West Smithfield, David’s work is about giving existing buildings a future. As Technical Director at AKT II, he co-leads the firm’s Climate Action work and specialises in adaptive reuse, design efficiency and material innovation. Recent projects include the Stirling Prize-nominated 100 Liverpool Street.
David Watson
Our Expert Panel
What happens to a film set when the cameras stop rolling? For My Lady Jane, Freya’s answer was polytunnels for a market garden and a field shelter for a community farm, work that won ReCollective, the reuse network she co-founded, the British Film Designers Guild Planet Positive Award. Today she is Head of Material Systems at YesMake, which salvages construction waste for reuse and built the fit-out of the Royal Docks’ new circular construction hub entirely from reclaimed materials. She is also a designer, illustrator and environmental activist.
Freya Bruce
Dr Silvie Jacobi is an arts manager and researcher who trained as a painter at Wimbledon College of Art before turning to geography. She builds community organisations from the ground up, from capital developments to major funding programmes such as the Good Growth Fund, and now helps arts organisations and charities through periods of change. Her research, including a joint PhD at King’s College London and Humboldt University Berlin on art schools and place, explores how art, education and community shape the places around them. She is part of Tipping Point East, the UK’s first Circular Construction Hub, here in the Royal Docks.
Silvie Jacobi
Armor is an architect, researcher and maker exploring how sustainable innovation can improve the built environment. As a Senior Lecturer at the University of East London, he has run Unit 8 on the Master of Architecture programme since 2017, where his students work with community-led organisations on projects from floating communities in the Royal Docks to sugar cane prototypes with Tate & Lyle. He previously worked at Bjarke Ingels Group, MVRDV and KPF, where he became an Associate Principal, and in 2015 founded Atelier La Juntana, a workshop where traditional craft meets digital fabrication.
Armor Gutiérrez Rivas
Rumi has spent over 15 years making London’s high streets work better for the people who use them. An urban designer and place-shaping consultant, she leads multidisciplinary teams on projects such as the Canada Water Masterplan Social Charter, Westway Community Street and the Low Line, winning NLA, Civic Trust and RIBA awards along the way. She chairs New London Architecture’s High Street Expert Panel and sits on the board of Future of London. Her approach is simple: lead by listening.