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Inventive vents – Exhibition & book launch celebrating London's weird and wonderful ventilation shafts

Partner event
Fri 2nd July 2021

Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd July the Building Centre will be hosting Our Hut's exhibition and day of activities celebrating the wonders that are London's ventilation shafts.

Inventive Vents: A gazetteer of London’s ventilation shafts stems from a project led by Our Hut, which was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and aims to broaden understanding and appreciation of London’s below-ground workings – transport, services, and sewerage – and the need for ventilation.

The vents are by eminent architects or artists such as Thomas Heatherwick’s cooling vents for an electricity substation in Paternoster Square, and Eduardo Paolozzi’s cast metal vent sculpture in Pimlico. There will also be vents made by less known or anonymous designers, for example, the 109 Lambeth road vent and the ‘Camberwell Submarine‘.

The exhibition includes a film and creative work by secondary school students and primary school children who designed vents for a range of different sites.

Children are most welcome – this event is aimed at families and school groups, but will certainly be of interest to all ages!

Key dates:

Exhibition open

  • Thursday 1st July 4.30 – 8.30pm
  • Friday 2nd July 9am – 5pm

Private view & book launch

  • Thursday 1st July 6.30 – 8.30pm