Join us on Tuesday 17th June for Country Estate: Friends, Foundations and the Future of Social Housing, a talk led by artist and producer Vanessa Farinha.

Presented as part of our Art/Work Association programme, this event offers a space for critical discussion and collective reflection on the legacy and future of social housing in the UK. Vanessa will be joined by Antje Saunders (Design Director, SNG) and a resident of a local council estate to explore both personal and professional perspectives on these often-stigmatised architectural environments, and to consider how co-design approaches might contribute to more sustainable and inclusive housing futures.

At a time when many post-war estates are facing demolition only decades after their construction, the conversation will reflect on how the original ambitions of social housing could have been strengthened through the active participation of those they were intended to serve.

As community-led and co-designed housing becomes more common, this discussion aims to imagine new, inclusive standards for designing homes and shaping communities.

This event is free to attend and will be held at Auto Italia. o book, please register here, or contact info@artworkassociation.org

Vanessa Farinha is a multi-disciplinary Artist & Producer. Her work explores the experience of the built environment and hybrid identity as a tool for understanding.

She recently completed a development programme with the De La Warr Pavilion and Flatland Projects, and has shown work with MOCA London, Hastings Contemporary, LADA, and Via Farini, among others. She is a member of Common Clay and the Babes in Arms artist/mother collective.

Vanessa has produced work for artists including Amie Siegel, Zineb Sedira, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Nick Cave, and Nick Ballon, as well as for institutions such as Home Live Art, Channel 4, South London Gallery, and Art on the Underground.

Antje Saunders is Design Director at SNG, bringing extensive experience from her previous role as Director and Architect at Allies and Morrison, London.

She has played a key role in large mixed-use and housing-led masterplans, including the Olympic Legacy, and co-founded the practice’s Masterplanning Group, providing client support for the King’s Cross Masterplan.

Antje worked on the regeneration of Fosters Estate in Hendon – a co-design masterplan that explores ways of delivering much-needed affordable housing within an existing estate, through close collaboration with the local community. Her experience in estate regeneration spans from the 16.5-hectare Gascoigne Estate in Barking to smaller-scale infill projects such as Fairbanks Road in Tottenham Hale.

Most recently, Antje led the regeneration of Uplands Business Park in Waltham Forest, a masterplan co-locating innovative industrial typologies with up to 1,800 homes. Building on this experience and designing according to Agent of Change principles, she also led the masterplan for Knights Road in West Silvertown, which delivers 1,400 new homes, workspaces, and a stacked industrial building.