Enterprise Point- Project Statement
With the price of accommodation rising so much over the years, there are few aspiring artists that can afford spaces big enough to create work in. A popular way of living cheaply in big cities has been to move into empty buildings, with famous squats such as St Ages Place and Tolmers Square attracting numerous inhabitants. Since squatting in residential buildings became a criminal offence in 2012, the owners of a growing number of industrial buildings have brought in ‘Guardians’ to live in the spaces at a reduced cost and prevent others from breaking in.
The time spent in these buildings is often short and the fact they are rarely designed to act as accommodation makes them unusual places to live. An old factory and office building in Brighton, never designed for habitation, Enterprise Point is now home to a community of artists and musicians who live there as Guardians. With plans to redevelop the building already in motion the amount of time they have left there is uncertain but likely to be brief.
Living in limbo, in what is still an industrial environment, many of their domestic arrangements are temporary gestures, put up for dramatic effect and easily packed away when the time comes to move on. The freedom that comes with living in a building about to be destroyed has also liberated them from the usual restrictions of renting so their marks on the building can be seen in the use of structures made from wooden pallets and hand painted walls. The spaces are under constant alteration as different people come and go, each making adjustments to their environment.
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Charlotte Lambert-Gorwyn 