Ardagh Young Creatives 2021

Leading the Ardagh Young Creatives programme are Akil and Seth, Directors at RESOLVE Collective, an interdisciplinary design collective that combines architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges. They have delivered numerous projects, workshops, publications, and talks in the UK and Europe, all of which look toward realising just and equitable visions of change in our built environment. For RESOLVE, design carries more than aesthetic value; it is also a mechanism for political and socio-economic change.

Benni Allan is the founding director of EBBA Architects, an emerging architecture practice in London working across a wide range of sectors including the arts, culture, education and housing. Benni is also the creative director and co-founder of AORA, an online virtual space and members platform. Alongside practice, Benni is a Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, an Architecture Foundation Young Trustee and more recently was chosen to be on the Design Review Panel for Harrow.

Ella is a Material Designer based in London, creating work that crosses the realms of textiles, product, art and set design. Ella uses contextual research and material experiments intersected with artisan techniques to transform the raw into the refined. The design outcomes whether objects or experiences, narrate the crafting process, material research and explore themes of historical, social and cultural movements.

Fandangoe Kid is a London-based print artist who makes large-scale narrative-driven pieces for the public realm. She seeks to smash taboos around complex subject matters such as loss, trauma release, mental health and gender constructs. These important conversations find themselves in film (Into Your Light), posters, print, graphics, fashion (Marie Curie x NHS), radio shows (The Grief Mixtape), books (Tender Hearted Bold Moves) and staircases (Staircase of Dreams). She is an advocate for young people in particular to develop a collective narrative on daily activism.

Shawn Adams is a writer, lecturer and architectural designer. Currently teaching at Central St Martins (UAL), he is also a Trustee of the Museum of Architecture and sits on the Advisory Board of Open City’s Accelerate programme. Shawn has written for magazines that include Architects’ Journal, Wallpaper* and ICON and has been featured in The Guardian and Financial Times. He is also a co-founder of POoR which is a social enterprise that focuses on the development of communities through the elevation of young people.