The ChatterBox Pavilion - for a Multicultural City

The ChatterBox Pavilion is a public art installation located at the end of Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth. The installation offers a new public space celebrating diversity and local culture whilst promoting multicultural integration. Through the creation of an accessible, user-friendly, interactive and playful environment, it will encourage an active and inclusive use of the space.
The original concept for the pavilion was the winning competition entry by Architecture students Helena Kranjc and Pepe Sánchez-Molero. The pavilion has been co-designed and co-created by the community group Chat Over Chai and students in the Cultural and Creative Industries Faculty at the University of Portsmouth, from both the Schools of Architecture and Illustration. The installation consists of a series of timber frames in which are installed several spinning panels that can be pushed by the users and reveal their two opposite faces. Users are engaged on the topic of migration through play, by images, artwork, illustrations, textual information and key relevant data. The artwork was produced through a series of community workshops held between August 2018 and June 2019.
The project is part of a long-term partnership between the University of Portsmouth School of Architecture and Portsmouth City Council led by Guido Robazza, aimed to improve the quality of the public spaces in Portsmouth and to make the design of the public realm more accessible to all citizens.
The ChatterBox pavilion project counted with the collaborative contribution of Maker’s Guild and Journeys Festival International Portsmouth and was supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
One of the community participants said: “We are all excited to see the fruits of our joint imaginings and endeavour. Whatever the outcome and however the installation is used this has been an interesting, motivating and unifying project; the process and the eventual product being valuable for us all”