Cella Collective

This year we collaborated with @publichouse135 to design and build the @moon___screen cinema for @wakinglife.pt festival. Oriented east to west, the design sits nestled in a ring of Portuguese cork oaks, native trees shrouded in mysticism and considered sacred in local folklore. A space of transitions, the visitor is guided between the trees and columns, through flowing fabrics guarded by suspended clay mouras - the spirits of folklore who appear on midsummer - and into a space of contemplation and reflection. A circular skylight moon hole frames the sky between the trees for stargazing, connecting to celestial bodies. Hanging from a timber grid frame, fabrics create shade throughout the day, whilst enclosing the space at night to frame the stage, screen, and lake beyond. A sculpted earthwork amphitheatre provides seating, its geometry dictated by the surrounding tree root systems, its curves paying reference to water retention systems for the arid summer landscape. Photography by @niccola.be Big thank you to all those who were a part of this along the way!

A single, 14 tonne granite rock was cut into 4 pieces, moved to site and then reassembled with the central piece missing to create a doorway. This central piece is rotated to align with the equinox, and has a moon-shaped sundial carved into both the southern and northern faces. Big thanks to @wakinglife.pt and collaborator and logistical master Maria @maryax

A single, 14 tonne granite rock was cut into 4 pieces, moved to site and then reassembled with the central piece missing to create a doorway. This central piece is rotated to align with the equinox, and has a moon-shaped sundial carved into both the southern and northern faces. Big thanks to @wakinglife.pt and collaborator and logistical master Maria @maryax

‘Alminhas das Mouras’ is a wayside shrine composed of a granite doorway, a standing stone aligned to the equinox, and an altar with ceramic pots. In Portuguese folklore, it is said that the souls of the dead inhabit stones alongside the Mouras - enchanted female spirits who are believed to be the builders of megaliths and dolmens. Visitors are encouraged to approach with intention - first pausing to ask permission to enter, then washing their hands at the altar and stepping through the threshold. Whilst passing through, one might offer gratitude or dedicate a thought to the souls of the dead or the spirits of the land. The altar includes a ceramic bowl for washing, a pot for wishes and some charcoal which represents the fire element. 📸 - @niccola.be thanks for the images! (Photos 1&2) Big thanks to @wakinglife.pt and collaborator/logistical master @maryax

Three pieces of exhibition furniture built to accommodate a collection of over 50 rolled, pinched, poked and teased clay tiles – on display as part of the @morrisand.company Clay | Culture | Carbon exhibition, at their 215–217 Mare Street studio. The tiles were produced during co-making workshops run as part of practice’s on-going research into co-making as a tool for sustainable design thinking, made as a response to discussions on extraction, ecology and the construction sector’s huge environmental impact. As such the tiles are grouped in the themes of Extraction, Co-Making and Ecology; with the latter two groups displayed around a maker’s table and hung on an A-frame bug house to be installed outside and occupied by Hackney insects, plants, lichen, bees, mosses and more. The tile makers, a group of young Hackney residents, considered the carbon cost and environmental impact of firing clay when choosing whether to fire their creation, or leave it as an unaltered, reworkable material. Their justifications and thoughts are displayed alongside the tiles on the original post-it notes – we particularly love one student’s declaration not to fire, as ‘the Earth is our only home’(!) Off-the-shelf timber battens were combined with the ply boards used by the workshop participants, with the shape of their clay creations traced in the water marks and stains left behind – telling the story of the co-making process which is as rich and enticing as the tiles themselves. The exhibition is open Monday to Friday until the end of this month! And we’ll be there next week talking through our design process and ideas on learning through making and collaboration at a Meet the Makers event – Thursday 10th July, 6pm to 9pm. Hope to see you there 👀 Big thanks to @morrisand.company for inviting us to collaborate! Images 1-3: @studio.s.p

Moonscreen 2025 is a collaboration between design collective Cella and Public House engineers.  Oriented east to west, the design sits nestled in a ring of Portuguese cork oak trees, shrouded in mysticism and considered sacred in local folklore. A space of transitions, the visitor is guided between the trees and columns, through hanging fabrics guarded by hanging clay mouras - the spirits of folklore who appear on midsummer - and into a space of contemplation and reflection.  A circular skylight moon hole frames the sky between the trees for stargazing, to connect to celestial bodies.  Hanging from a timber grid frame, flowing fabrics create shade throughout the day, whilst enclosing the space at night to frame the stage, screen, and lake beyond.  A sculpted earthwork amphitheatre provides seating, its geometry dictated by the surrounding tree root systems, its curves paying reference to water retention systems for the arid summer landscape.  -- @cellacollective is a collective of makers exploring the relationship between spaces, materials and ecology through building, teaching and writing. @publichouse135 are a structural design studio based in London. Projects range from public libraries and mushroom farms in London to bathing pavilions at Waking Life,  each design approached with care and curiosity, projects as positive useful acts.

🔧 We worked with Public House engineers to create a lightweight structure, which was easy to move and rigid when assembled. Each shelving unit is a rolling storage cabinet for the open studio: once wheeled into place, the units become vertical supports for 3mm folded aluminum structural tabletops which span over 2m, and a 4x4m roof covering which is rolled out and attached to the tops of the columns through tapered ply beams. All in all, it’s a 10 minute pop-up process. 🌞 Commissioned by @devonshirecollective (Post 3/3) 📷 James Hepper. Courtesy Cella Collective @cellacollective @publichouse135

📚 At the gallery, the structure houses Collective Books, Devonshire Collective’s open submission bookshop, and will function as a display space, platforming our artist community. When out in the street it is porous - without walls it stands as an open invite to passers by and offers us the opportunity to create, share and do together while surrounded by new vistas, from the Victorian architecture of Seaside Road to the rolling downs, from Eastbourne’s street markets to the horizon out to sea. 🌊 Commissioned by @devonshirecollective (Post 2/3) 📷 James Hepper. Courtesy Cella Collective @cellacollective @publichouse135

📢 NEWS We, Devonshire Collective, Cella Collective and Public House, have been imagining and designing the Open Space structure and concept for the past year. Conceived of as a new urban tool, this modular structure on wheels has been co-designed to encompass a series of functions; outdoor studio, shared workshop space, library and bookshop, artists’ market stall, mobile cinema, off-site exhibition host, seed bank and drawing office. Our aim was to create a practical yet playful design that will host, support and expand Devonshire Collective’s community programme, that can move beyond the gallery walls while offering function within. Commissioned by @devonshirecollective (Post 1/3) 📷 James Hepper. Courtesy Cella Collective @cellacollective @publichouse135

Some photos from September, facilitating @cellacollective workshop Riverside Remediation: Tools of a Seed-Sower with @jakethatmake for Emerge East Festival @barking_riverside “Planting seeds to restore and regenerate degraded lands has been a part of human history, both consciously and unconsciously. We aim to transform the act of seed-sowing into a form of activism to heal our environment.” Cella Collective During this one-day pop up workshop participants created clay seed sowing tools and portable seed sowing pots using extruded pieces of clay with custom cut extruding dies by @dundas.digital Big thanks to @hemingwaydesign for having us and everyone that came and got creative 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

We experimented with locally sourced earth - dug from a neighbouring farm, and processed on site - to make earthen entrance panels. Here are some clips showing the construction. In the mix: Local clay dug from the ground Dried grasses from the site Water from the lake Woven panel substructure: Smashed canes from the site Natural string

Building a Midsummer Mourama: Construction began by driving a pontoon with timber legs into the mud below the water. A deck was then made by placing down timber beams that would receive the frames, followed by joists & decking - creating a platform to work on. The timber frames were then moved into place & braced whilst the shading panels were being prepared. Waste canes were found in abundance on site. In order to make use of them, we worked to produce a cut and hang system on the first structure, which involved cutting, drilling, and threading nearly 2000 350mm pieces of cane to create splayed shading. Dead canes harvested from the bamboo grove were then used on the second structure. Both shading panels also work to create bracing for the timber frames. Video of earth panel construction sequence to follow! Collaboration between @cellacollective @lacuartapiel @publichouse135 Thank you to the build team: @calum.reilly @jo_seph_hi_llary @_mflo @jakethatmake @gokmennadire @luis_martingonzalez @kika3r special thanks to @wakinglife.pt