London's young artists, designers and architects take over the underground

Victoria Stewart
28 Mar 2011

Wanted: 16 twentysomethings with creative drive seek bridge or tunnel in London to build creative arts space. All volunteers and ideas welcome.

Heard this before? If not, keep your ear to the ground because not only has the young founder of The Old London Underground Company, Ajit Chambers, just been given the go-ahead by Boris Johnson to turn 26 of the capital's disused underground stations into tourist spaces but there are whisperings across the city that another new design project is getting underway.

Folly for a Flyover is the name; Hackney Wick is the place. And the brains behind it? A group of young artists, designers and architects called Assemble, recently awarded £40,000 by Merrill Lynch Create to make an artistic space beneath a derelict road this summer. All hail London's new Bridge and Tunnel Brigade.

Amica Dall, one of the 16-strong Assemble art collective, says London's tunnels are far more appealing to design for than commercial spaces.

"We're working in time for the East London cultural festival, CREATE11, and we've found this cavernous space underneath a flyover in Hackney which was always overlooked but has incredible natural amenities. It's a well-positioned space by the canal which we're re-imagining. You can do things here which you can't when working under commercial constraints. You can be adventurous, involve other people and have fun," the 24-year-old believes.

Setting up sites under railway bridges has been done before - think of Corsica Studios, a nightclub positioned under the railway at Elephant and Castle or Shunt under London Bridge - but it is clear that this new Bridge Brigade is hungry for adventure. While Assemble - which also designed the petrol station-cum-cinema project Cineroleum last summer - is keeping quiet about Folly's exact location until its unveiling in June, other young Londoners are taking on the city's subways with some force.

ARtCH is a Bethnal Green-based art collective currently looking for new premises since it was thrown out of the last one, Arch 12a, last week.

One ARtCH member, Nimrod Vardi, 28, says he arrived in London from Israel last year and, disappointed with the galleries available, set about making change.

"Since December, we've been underneath the arches of Bethnal Green doing everything from comedy and photoshoots to drum sessions and poetry events.
There was something unique there. Being in a tunnel gives a very atmospheric, nostalgic feel.
Even the smell is great and you can hear the trains from up above. Now we just want something similar to what we had so we're looking under every arch we can think of," says an excitable Vardi.

Two final tunnel team members are Hamish Jenkinson, 32, creative director of The Old Vic Tunnels, and 29-year-old promoter Tristan Hoffman, who together are putting on the tunnels' second ever music event with the New York Dolls this Wednesday.

"It was always my intention to hold off music but we decided to leave the tunnels empty for months so that we could then re-open with this high-impact, incredible buzzing moment of an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros gig. It's not all about music but next week's Dolls gigs will be brilliant - and we're now talking to some incredibly exciting acts about what we can do with the space," says Jenkinson.

Clearly, anything could happen. But if you're having a moment of inspiration, at least you know who to send your application to.

Info:createlondon.org; theoldlondonundergroundcompany; artch.org.uk; oldvictunnels