The PER[form] space is a temporary wooden structure sited on the main campus, designed and built by second-year architecture students, in collaboration with the School of Arts and Communication Design, who acted as the ‘client’ in this replica real-life architectural brief. Students also worked with the School of Architecture’s academics, Piers Taylor of Invisible Studio, and Charley Brentnall of Carpenter Oak.

The structure was built in just three days, and was then the home of a programme of varied activity by students from the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, and the ‘Lunchtime Encounters’ programme led by the Arts Strategy. Over two weeks, University staff and students were invited to visit the structure over lunchtime, encountering a variety of ideas, activities, knowledge and discussions drawn from across the University’s activities. These ranged from a performance of musical saw playing, to introductions to our campus museums, from provocations about food wastage to an insight into essential oils.

Find out more about what happened during the Lunchtime Encounters programme by scrolling through these slides.

  • Lunchtime Encounters
  • Mon 4: Pocket, MERL Tues 5: Dr Hannah Newton (History), Campus Voices Rehearsal Wed 6: Ure Museum Thurs 7: Reside Dance Fri 8: Pocket Museum and Cole Museum Mon 11: Musical Saw recital Tues 12: CINNergies workshop Wed 13: Musical Jam, and Essential Oils with Chemistry Thurs 14: Institute for Food, Health and Nutrition; I really enjoyed it, and learnt a lot from you all! Thanks for organising the event, and I would definitely be up for doing something similar again; Attendees: Undergrads, postgrads, post-docs, Emerita, PSO, Finance, Careers, Security, RES, Food, Biology, Chemistry, Law, HBS, MERL/UMASCS. visitors, Pharmacy, Archaeology, Art, dog walkers, Institute for Environmental Analytics, Vice-Chancellor, Meteorology, IT, Agriculture, Walker Institute, KTC, Construction Management, Modern Languages...; Hosting Disciplines International relations, Architecture, Chemistry, Food, Philosophy, Maths, Music, Museum Studies, Archaeology, History, Classics, Flim, Theatre & TV, Zoology, Collections; I really enjoyed the experience ... any opportunity to get people connecting and 'hanging out' is a good one.
  • A colleague from Finance attended every single encounter; 15 - 30 people attended each day, over 2 hours; A student from HBS was delighted to discover it, as an architect and interior designer by training; A colleague from Security stayed for half an hour, getting enthusiastic about the MERL objects; A parish councillor from Taunton, visiting for an event, wanted to commission something similar
  • What Did You Encounter? New People; New Perspectives; Different Ideas; A new frame of mind; The campus is beautiful throughout the year. There is always something to see and admire. Feel so lucky to walk through the campus each day; A haven of quiet away from the eyes of the world; The space reminds me of the upturned hull of a capsized boat. Not sure how it washed up here so far from the sea; It evokes a free and friendly atmosphere; I smell the grass and pollen in the air. As I approach the structure I smell wood; I'd use a space like this to sit quietly in, to step out of the world while still watching and being part of it.
  • @rdg_uni_arts in June: 71 tweets 31K impressions 548 profile visits 32 mentions + 59 followers. Dr Karen Dempsey: I was feeling a bit lacklustre before I went to see @ResideDance per[FORM] but some positive #lunchtimeencounters I am feeling much better. Thanks @Rdg_uni_arts. Dr Jessica Lutkin: Really looking forward to the #lunchtimeencounters - definitely curious as to what has been packed in to the next two weeks! Dr Natalie Masento: Such an enjoyable experience at #lunchtimeencounters The topic of #foodwaste affects us all -we heard lots of different perspectives on why it happens and got some grat suggestions on how to reduce it. Such a great opportunity thanks @Rdg_uni_arts
  • Outcomes for the Arts Strategy. An understanding of areas of shared interest across disciplines; Generating ideas with a wide range of colleagues about future interventions; Meeting a wide variety of people from a cross section of University life; Information to feed into the public art briefs; Experience in running events at the University' an informal consultation opportunity on what temporary creative spaces might mean to University communities

You can also watch this documentary video about the process of designing and building the structure.