Material & Memory brings together works by staff and former students from Architecture and Design at Northumbria University. The Manor House at Brinkburn came into the care of English Heritage in 1965, when large sections of the internal features had to be stripped-out due to dry rot. This left the building seemingly unfinished, revealing layers of history in the exposed construction and materials. The participating creatives have drawn inspiration from this sparse yet atmospheric setting, each offering a contemporary interpretation of an aspect of the site’s history or material condition. 

This site-specific ‘Material & Memory’ works engage in dialogue with the layered history of Brinkburn Priory and Manor House. The functional art objects bring together the different scales of monumentality and intimacy in a simultaneous experience, rendering space into place. By subtly referencing the monumental history and details of Brinkburn within the haptic human scale of craftsmanship, they make its meanings tangible, connecting the past to the here-and-now. As such, they are essentially architectural, introducing an attitude of care in how to bring heritage into the future. As Norberg Schulz wrote: ‘The existential purpose of building (architecture) is to make a site become a place, that is, to uncover the meanings potentially present in the given environment.’

Prof. Caroline Voet, Architect PhD
Programme Director, Bachelor of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven, Belgium


Exhibition curation: Ben Couture (Architecture) & Anthony Forsyth (Design School)   

Identity: Gareth Jones