Live Project: 08 Selby
Client: Selby Town Team plus representatives from other local organisations such as the Civic Society.
Tutor: Matthew Margetts
Selby is a small northern town with a surprisingly rich heritage. The problem is that many of the town’s inhabitants are ignorant of this. A recent workshop with local school children highlighted this fact when the children were asked whether Selby would benefit from some local information points. ‘There’d be no point ‘cos there’s nothing to tell about Selby’ was the immediate response. The youth are only part of the problem. Recent projects in the town are remarkable only for their insensitivity to the town’s historic context. Access to this sort of information is difficult in Selby too. There is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable ‘museum group’, but they lack a museum. They have heaps of materials stored in various lofts and back rooms but no means to display it. There used to be a museum, but it closed through lack of funds. Selby is not unique in these regards. The problem of making a modest, but valuable heritage accessible and engaging in an economically sustainable way is a challenge faced by many places and institutions. Whilst some sort of permanent home is likely to be the long term objective there is no funding for this at present. The urgent problem facing Selby in the short term is how it can maintain links to its past during a period of rapid change. The solution is unlikely to be a traditionally architectural one. Working closely with local interest groups, school children, the town team and the ‘museum group’ the live project for Selby will be to explore how to create a different kind of museum for Selby. One that is accessible, dynamic, engaging and above all sustainable.
