Zetteler

What do you get if you cross five of the UK’s leading cultural and educational institutions with the grassroots creative talent of east London and the legacy of the 2012 Olympics? Welcome to East Bank. Set in the heart of @queenelizabetholympicpark , it’s a unique collaboration between BBC Music Studios; @lcflondon_ @sadlerswells_east @ucl and @vam_east – and the largest ever cultural investment by the Mayor of London. Zetteler is delighted to be working strategically with the East Bank team and the five institutions on this very exciting moment in London’s cultural story. Stay tuned for more from East Bank, including news of The Music is Black Festival – a packed eight-month season of live music and performance, talks, screenings, dance events, club nights and much, much more… Email us via [email protected] if you’re keen to hear more about anything specific 📝 📸 courtesy of @queenelizabetholympicpark

Welcome to 2026! We’re kicking off the year by announcing our 26 for ‘26. The annual list brings together a wide range of people blurring the lines between creativity and activism. With any luck, you've managed to clear your holiday inbox – now say hello to a stellar line-up of architects and artists, designers, researchers and tech pioneers, and so much more. Together, they are redrawing the blueprint on empowering communities and challenging the profit-obsessed, climate destabilising status quo. The full list is: @nateagbetu ; @seyiakiwowo ; @thisiskarimali ; @bakhtawer.haider + @bettybrunfaut ; @elizalicollin ; Joel De Mowbray; @daisygreenwell ; @laurenharewood_ ; Paula Harriott; @_sophiehaydock_ ; @kaddyjatta ; @semlee ; @naviedm ; Nick Mailer; @petramarko ; @kshitija__m ; @nyimamurry ; @greenpartyzack ; Damayanthi Ponnuthurai; James Reeves; @mad.e.leiner ; João Prates Vital Ruivo; @kaye.song ; @christie.wip ; @rosawhiteley ; and @lillianwilkie . You can find all their bios and brilliance at zetteler.co.uk/news (link in bio!), and we’d like to thank everyone involved, these generous people for accepting, the Zetteler team for putting forth nominations, and @itsart.studio for creating this years graphics ♥️ We’ll be shouting out each individual over the coming weeks. Until then, happy new year! #Architecture #Design #Art #Activism #Climate

“Say what you want as long as it doesn’t upset stakeholders.” 72% of cultural workers interviewed by @queercircle say free speech is being applied inconsistently within their organisations. The new report, Let’s Create Change: Artistic Freedom in a Time of Genocide and Rising Fascism, reveals widespread censorship and weaponisation of funding. Released amid escalating global conflict, Let’s Create Change draws on testimony from professionals across England’s visual arts sector, following two years of consultation with cultural workers and institutions. Written by #JulietJacques, the report outlines a comprehensive timeline of recent controversies and the shifting legislative ground that has worsened the situation for artistic freedom in the UK – a freedom that has become increasingly conditional on trustees’ sensibilities and a growing culture of fear around reputational damage. Let’s Create Change offers a rallying cry for the sector to reverse the attacks on freedom of expression. Read the full report via @queercircle . 📸 Images courtesy QUEERCIRCLE. #Artists #Art #FreedomOfSpeech #England #UK #QUEERCIRCLE #Gallery #London #FreeSpeech #VisualArts

You’re invited to BASSTONE PLAYGROUND by @linett_kamala (@lin_kam_art ) 🎶 BASSTONE PLAYGROUND is a joyful family art installation blending performance and relaxation, as part of The Music is Black Festival at @queenelizabetholympicpark . Designed for all ages! This vibrant, welcoming experience asks you to step into an intentionally-designed world of sound, light, and dance during ‘The Music is Ours’ festival weekend, which features live music curated by @itsfootsieagain , @yolandabrown and @soulmamalondon . 🌿 Enjoy something for everyone across ‘Performance’, ‘Play’ and ‘Peace’ zones 🎧 Discover hidden speakers playing dub, lo-fi and chilled sounds curated by the artist 🎡 Dance at the BASSTONE MAYPOLE — the world’s first LED and sound maypole 12-5pm, 13–14 June 2026 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Free, just turn up! Interested? Learn more on our website. BASSTONE PLAYGROUND was commissioned for The Music is Black Festival from East Bank by the @culturewithin_ Children’s Board. 📸: @crispian_blaize_photography #Newham #FamilyEvents #LondonEvents #ArtInstallation #SoundSystemCulture EastBank

Have you been to @tippingpointeast ? It is a remarkable new material reuse facility and centre of ecological architectural design and research in east London. 95% of the materials used in the main office, designed by @material_cultures , are recycled from other construction projects. Here's a rundown of the photos: Pic 1. Window and door frames made with water wood from the Bridgerton sets. Pic 2. A meeting room window made using the round glass from an old table top. Pic 3. Elton John's old kitchen! (A small part of it at least) has been remade as the office coffee point. Pic 4. @sumsais speaking about the work of Material Cultures in front of a huge wall of biomaterial samples (construction materials that have come from plants, not mining or drilling). Pic 5. Structural columns made from discard Cross Laminated Timber. I have never seen small pieces of CLT used like this. Very smart. Pic 6. @resolvecollective have also established the @_materialstore_ here taking waste materials from cultural institutions like bits of exhibition and finding new uses for them in the community. Here are fragments of a @rosa_johan show waiting for a new life. Pic 7. And outside @yesmakeldn have a massive yard where they are processing high quality second hand construction materials. The pic shows an enormous piece of sequoia which is gradually being turned into new boards.

The team behind @flowersfromthefarm are hard at work. From 19–23 May, they are set to launch the first-ever working flower farm at the prestigious @the_rhs Chelsea Flower Show – the first group to do so in its century-long history. And from 15–21 June 2026, @british.flowers.week will return, coinciding with the @unitednations ’ International Year of the Woman Farmer. Following the theme ‘Flowers for the future’, this year’s festival programme offers the public hands-on opportunities to explore and discover the plantlife that the UK has to offer. Through these collaborative efforts, the public appetite for local blooms has reached a new peak. Now that’s good news. 📸 Flowers from the Farm board. Image courtesy of Flowers from the Farm. #Flowers #Agriculture #BritishGrown

A curiosity-led studio with a poetic flair and a humanist ethos, @alisonbrooksarchitects has a 30-year track record of excellence. The only UK firm to have won the @RIBA ‘triple crown’ – the Stirling Prize, House of the Year (aka the Manser Medal – twice!), and the Stephen Lawrence Prize – Alison Brooks Architects is one of the most influential practices working today. Led by Canadian-British architect Alison Brooks, the studio has earned international acclaim for high-profile commissions across the globe, with current academic, residential and projects underway in Taiwan, the Middle East, Canada and the UK. Notably, Accordia in Cambridge demonstrated the practice’s outstanding housing capabilities; the Quarterhouse in Folkestone has become a creative centrepiece for the southeast; and the Cohen Quad at Exeter College, Oxford, redefined collegiate architecture for the 21st century. Celebrating 30 years of practice in 2026, the studio continues to demonstrate its belief that architecture serves as the bridge between memory and the future. Cadence, a landmark housing project and jewel in the crown of the King's Cross masterplan, completes later this year, with plenty more to follow in the UK and around the world. As the studio approaches its 30-year milestone, Zetteler is proud to be working with Alison and her team as they continue to share their generous and forward-looking architectural vision with the world. 📸 @tereza_cervenova #AlisonBrooks #Architecture #Architects

Your invitation to create and perform in carnival - inspired wearable architecture ✂️ NEW workshop: Brixton Wearables Part of the London Festival of Architecture Brixton📍 28 June 12.30 -17.00 Expect craft, movement, conversation, and diasporic expression in motion. Wear white and join us at the historic Brixton Market where food and commodities reflect multicultural and layered histories. Through wearable architecture, archive and collage, we’ll explore Brixton’s connections to Africa and the Americas, inspired by market architecture, carnival craft and the creative rituals that shape belonging, identity and resilience. Powered by good people @_zetteler_ and @danclairskitchen #ResistanceIsFertile #BrixtonWearables #londonfestivalofarchitecture

#BookRecommendation! @shon.faye grew up quietly obsessed with the feeling that love was not for her. Not just romantic love: the secret fear of her own unworthiness penetrated every aspect and corner of her life. But, as she confronted her damaging ideas about love and lovelessness, she came to realize that this sense of exclusion is symptomatic of a much larger problem in our culture. Love, she argues, is as much a collective question as a personal one. Yet our collective ideals of love have developed in a society which is itself profoundly sick and loveless; in which consumer capitalism sells us ever new, engrossing fantasies of becoming more loved or lovable. We adore this book, which proudly sits on the Zetteler bookshelf. 📸 Graphic by @zarashasorecreative #Book #Reading

Flowers are on their way! 💐 @flowersfromthefarm has taken flowers to @the_rhs Chelsea Flower Show, in preparation for their installation at the big event next week (19–23 May). The team is building and planting a miniature flower farm, which is a first in the show's history. By presenting a flower farm in microcosm, Flowers from the Farm aims to encourage people to look to British flower farms as suppliers of cut flowers, rather than relying on imports, while also advocating for small-scale commercial flower growing as a financially and environmentally sustainable use of land. 📸 @stephenchungphoto #Flowers #BritishGrown #FlowerShow

“By harnessing our skill set and our access to materials, we were able to deliver a remedial plan, electrical fit out and full factory control process to ensure it remains a great building for years to come – one that can serve the material revolution that we are driving at Tipping Point East.” That’s how Yes Make founder Joel De Mowbray explained the early plans for @tippingpointeast to @Dezeen . Congratulations to @yesmakeldn , @material_cultures and @resolvecollective for leading such an inspiring project. And shout out to @mayorofldn and @newhamlondon for their generous support. 📸 Photography by @henrywoide ; Graphic by @zarashasorecreative #Architecture #Circularity #Construction

Amidst the closures of town halls, youth clubs, and other community spaces across the UK, @millporttownhall is looking to turn the tide with an innovative approach to sustainable tourism. Following its painful closure in 2016, the 19th-century hall was taken over by the local community, who saved it via a successful fundraising campaign. The work by architects @odonnellbrown_ renovated the community space, transforming it into the beating heart of the Scottish island of Great Cumbrae. This renovation includes a small extension containing three holiday rental apartments—a crucial upgrade to future-proof this community asset. The Millport Town Hall model provides a roadmap for at-risk heritage buildings and social infrastructure across the UK by keeping tourism income in the community and reducing reliance on outside investment to maintain vital social infrastructure. 📸 Photos by David Barbour, courtesy Millport Town Hall #Architecture #Travel #Heritage