MOBILE EVENT TENT (MET)
ARTISTS: RESEARCH DESIGN, JENNY STEELE, GAVIN RENSHAW, PROFESSOR CHARLES QUICK
LOCATION: PRESTON
YEAR: 2021
PARTNERS: PRESTON CITY COUNCIL, PRESTON PARTNERSHIP, TOWN FUND BOARD
The MET (Mobile Event Tent) is a unique temporary mobile structure. The octangular, multi-use space is ingeniously constructed from stretch tent fabric and four customised 20 ft shipping containers. The fully equipped creative space, can be an auditorium with seating for 100 people or an open space twelve meters square . It’s flexible interior can accommodates, theatre, cinema, dance, music, exhibitions, workshops, meals, community events and much more.
Its mobility means that it can visit places across the city to broaden participation in cultural activities. It is an important piece of community cultural infrastructure that is playing a key role in continuing the provision of cultural events and attractions in the city for future years. All its components pack down into four shipping containers which are then transported to its next site ready to pop up again. So far it has visited two sites in Preston and new ones are planned for the future.
It will continue the tradition of Preston as somewhere that is the first to test new physical and architectural structures and follows on from ICP’s previous projects, such as the Harris Flights and The People’s Canopy in exploring our research interest in using temporary architectural interventions to create spaces for cultural use.
MET has been designed by project architect Charlie MacKeith of Research Design in partnership with Professor Charles Quick of In Certain Places . The visual artist Jenny Steele has worked with different cultural groups within the city to create decoration that wraps all the internal walls, while co ordinating the overall colour scheme. Resulting in a magical interior that reflects Preston’s diverse cultural heritage. Gavin Renshaw has painted the large thunderbird identification numbers on the 4 containers.
The MET project has been developed by In Certain Places in partnership with Preston City Council, the Preston Partnership and supported by the Preston Town Fund Board.