#EP1 Jane Hall
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Back in 2015, Ben Stuart had the opportunity to explore behind the scenes of Assemble Studios and talk to one of the founding members, the lovely Jane Hall. They discuss everything from Assemble’s first projects, done in the summer of their university course, all the way up to their Turner Prize award and lots of stuff in-between.
This is where it all began. I knew Jane from my time at Make. She was so nice, so easy to talk to and generous with her time. This was a few weeks before they won the Turner Prize. I began by talking to Jane about Assemble’s first project, The Cineroleum. “We began talking about the project in 2009, just after we’d all graduated from Cambridge University. Like all good plans - it started in the pub. We wanted to see an entire project through from brief to construction, we also just wanted to continue working together”.
“Like all good plans - it started in the pub. We wanted to see an entire project through from brief to construction”
The Cineroleum project saw a petrol station on Clerkenwell Road transformed into a cinema. “It was about transforming a garage into something that could evoke cinema - that was the challenge. We bought a popcorn machine, it was those little things like making fresh popcorn on site rather than buying it - it created those smells which animated the space. The whole idea was to make cinema going about more than just sitting down and watching a film - but about the social aspect that goes around it”.
“It was about transforming a garage into something that could evoke cinema - that was the challenge”
Following the Cineroleum, assemble turned their attention to a second project - Folly For A Flyover. “The idea of the project was to demonstrate that a piece of essentially wasteland, which had a really bad reputation, and was completely covered in graffiti could actually be a really great place for leisure and asset to the community. We were really worried that we’d build something and then it would just get trashed, but the Folly was up for three months and we didn’t have a single problem with it. I think if a space is valued and cared for and something productive and interesting is going on - it will be respected.”
“I think if a space is valued and cared for and something productive and interesting is going on - it will be respected.”
Assemble have since gone from strength to strength, culminating in them winning the Turner Prize in 2015 for their work on the Granby Four Streets project in Liverpool.
It was so lovely speaking to Jane in Assemble’s Sugarhouse Studios. Check out their website.