Interdisciplinary models for collaboration between artists and architects: empowering community, inspiring urban renewal

This paper relates to the theme of Public Space and the Built Environment, exploring possible (interdisciplinary) worlds, where collaboration flows naturally and partnering between artists and architects delivers benefits for all participants involved. It contributes to the ongoing debate about temporary interventions in the urban context and the potential that such new collaborative experiences and interdisciplinary models can present for a local community. The paper discusses the potential that partnering has for creative interaction with a city’s cultural (in this case, often derelict and left-over) fabric through informal urban interventions and the stimulation of urban renewal. How exactly can such collaborations between artists and architects trigger the transformative potential, fostering social well-being of communities? The paper introduces and examines a selection of site-specific installation works in Newcastle (NSW), Brisbane (QLD) and Berlin (Germany), which were the results of collaborative practices initiated by the author. These temporary works question our comfortable notions of life in cities as well as challenging our understanding of the roles of architecture and art, and their modus operandi in general. One of the conclusions is that, today, urban renewal of the post-Industrial city has to address and support social diversity and the changing requirements for public space, where the public domain is increasingly under threat to be transformed into privatised, controlled zones, and the need to find innovative ways to embed the arts in the urban regeneration process