Look Up Looking Down at OpenFest 2019 invited families to join the Play Build Play team on an extra special sensory tour of the Barbican Centre.
Departing from the Barbican Blocks site throughout the festival day participants first made themselves a made-to-measure special gold foam mat, before setting out into the urban wonderland that is the Barbican: high-walks and gardens and terraces, foyers, mezzanines and stairwells. At various locations participants were invited to place their mats on the ground, lie down and look up. Locations were carefully chosen to relate to archival material, exploring the unique materials, shapes and stories that make the Barbican so special.
Looking directly up is an often under used point of view and can offer a new and unusual way to experience our everyday environments. This workshop facilitates participants young and old to take ownership of public spaces, encouraging them to explore the built environment in new and playful ways. Lying down also offers a great opportunity to stop, look and listen to the busy world around us in a calm and meditative way, not something we get to do very often in this busy city of ours!