We initiated the project House of Annetta (HoA) to develop a centre for research, arts and solidarity work towards transformative systems of change. Over the past years, the house has been used by hundreds of different groups, individuals and networks for gathering, eating, talking, exhibiting, listening and making.
House of Annetta CIC was created to manage the building and programme events. Today, Assemble and House of Annetta CIC are working to get the building ready for a longer-term capital works programme.
As part of Assemble, I shaped a dynamic public programme that celebrated collective care, spatial justice, and cultural exchange. I curated gatherings, workshops, and conversations that welcomed diverse voices and fostered meaningful collaborations across disciplines and communities. Alongside this, I steered the HoA’s digital storytelling, including Instagram campaigns, virtual space and web content that extended our ethos beyond the building and into broader networks of solidarity and imagination.
Over the course of three years, ‘place-making’ to me has transformed from a linguistic trope to the act of making, which is both representational and interventional.
Bottom left to right: Louis Schulz, Fran Edgerly
top left to right: Yibeijia Li, Sofia Deria
Image Credit:
Nowness magazine, Shanghai.
We re-iterated the role of the architect as the facilitator for other people's dreams, perhaps not dreams of acquisition and consumption, but dreams of sustenance, well-being, purpose and creative production. In the same way, Richard Sennet and Tim Ingold articulate the potential through making for the individual to gain knowledge and insight. A community of people and place might collectively acquire and retain knowledge through shared, collaborative, situated and participatory making. And to that, perhaps we could extend individual aspiration to align with collective needs.
The site was a former home/studio of architect and artist Annetta Pedretti from 1980 to 2018.
Her areas of interest and exploration were cybernetics and the study of self-regulating systems, which she explored through beekeeping, publishing, art-making, political activism and day-to-day conversation. After she died in 2018, Annetta’s house was gifted by her family to Stiftung Edith Maryon, a foundation in Switzerland that appointed Assemble to develop a future for the semi-derelict building.
The construction of 25 Princelet St can be read as an accumulated sequence of craft-based mini projects, with aesthetic and practical motivations. Initiated in 1705 with restoration panelling, added to with trims 60 years later to fit with the developing fashions of the time.
Our approach to the building’s design and conservation is guided by four core principles:
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Preserve its sense of enchantment – retaining the unique atmosphere the building holds in its current state.
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Honour Annetta’s legacy – by preserving and continuing aspects of her work, acknowledging her life and dedication as integral to the building’s story.
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Build sustainably – prioritising ecologically sensitive and recycled materials wherever possible.
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Ensure full accessibility – making the space welcoming and usable for everyone.
I have designed a website, a flag, a logo and a series of visual materials for HoA, as well as running a rapidly growing online community :)
Assemble, House of Annetta
House of Annetta
HoA Instagram
Edith Maryon Foundation
Heritage Lottery Fund
Arts Council
Related:
In The Fabric of Time
Nocturnal Creatures
House of Annetta Documentary
Cybernetic House