Photo credit: Colin Davison
Fold-Up, a contemporary public art installation by German artist Wolfgang Weileder has achieved its incredible goal of building a temporary housing structure in ten working days, using innovative continental construction techniques.
Passers-by, office workers and nearby residents have been intrigued and amazed by the speed of the project and the techniques being used.
The replica Georgian house is the artist’s site-specific response to Sunniside Gardens, a £2.2 million flagship redevelopment at the heart of Sunderland’s £130 million Sunniside regeneration programme – the source material at the centre of Weileder’s work is No.15 Norfolk Street, a terrace house that faces into the Gardens and is positioned only 200 metres from the temporary build.
Fold-Up is part of a major programme of public art and creative projects being developed by Sunderland City Council, in association with r.Bau Ltd, the Sunniside Partnership and Commissions North (part of Arts Council England, North East).
To realise his creative vision, Weileder worked alongside local building contractors r.Bau Ltd and apprentice builders from South Tyneside College, Newcastle College and the Sunderland Construction Challenge.
Fold-Up is on public display until August 3, giving people the chance to walk around the unique installation and stimulating debate about the contemporary design issues of design quality and sustainability. After the exhibition, it will be time for the final phase of the project as the team decommission and recycle the building, block by block.
Wolfgang Weileder commented: “I think the focus of the project goes beyond the pure aesthetics of the structure, I would like to think Fold-Up will inspire people to take ownership of where they live and be more critically aware of their built environment.”
