muf

muf is a London-based collaborative practice of artists, architects and urban designers whose work focuses on the design, interpretation and long-term use of the public realm. Rather than treating public space as a finished visual object, muf has developed an approach centered on occupation, participation, care, flexibility and the ability of users to adapt places over time. Its projects commonly combine architecture, landscape design, public art, urban analysis, community engagement and planning guidance. The practice was formed in 1994 after its founders were given temporary office space on Great Sutton Street in London. In its early years, muf brought together architects Juliet Bidgood and Liza Fior with artist Katherine Clarke, working regularly with urban theorist Katherine Shonfield. The group positioned itself in deliberate contrast to conventional divisions between architecture, art and urban planning. Its work examined how public life is shaped by decisions that are often treated as private, technical or managerial, and argued that design should support forms of collective ownership and appropriation. muf also became known for flexible working arrangements. These arrangements were understood not merely as internal employment policies but as part of the practice's wider feminist and socially oriented position. They allowed members to balance childcare and teaching with professional work, while supporting a collaborative structure that could expand or contract according to the requirements of a project. The practice's portfolio includes public squares, parks, bridges, housing-estate landscapes, cultural interiors, design codes and strategic studies. Notable projects include Broadway Estate Park in Tilbury, Barking Town Square, the Eastern Curve and other work associated with Making Space in Dalston, Mile End Bridge, the renewal of Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel, the Wonderlab gallery at the Science Museum, and the public realm at Kings Crescent Estate. These projects vary in scale but share an interest in how movement, play, informal activity, memory, planting, materials and local narratives can make urban environments more open to use. muf's work has also had a strong curatorial and representational dimension. In 2010, the practice was appointed artistic director of the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. It has subsequently appeared in international exhibitions and biennales, including events in Venice, São Paulo and Singapore, as well as exhibitions addressing feminist practice, public luxury, urban care and architecture in conditions of ecological and social stress. Its professional output includes the book This Is What We Do: A muf Manual and a range of design and planning guidance documents. These publications communicate methods as well as completed designs, covering subjects such as localism, public-realm codes, regeneration, observation and the relationship between participation and spatial change. The practice has received recognition from bodies including the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Landscape Institute, the European Prize for Urban Public Space and the British Design Awards ecosystem. muf remains best understood as a practice-led cultural and design organization rather than a consumer-facing product brand or conventional architectural corporation.

muf was established in London in 1994 after a temporary office arrangement gave the founders space to begin working together. The initial group consisted of architects Juliet Bidgood and Liza Fior and artist Katherine Clarke, with urban theorist Katherine Shonfield among the practice's regular collaborators. From the outset, muf treated architecture, art and urbanism as overlapping activities rather than separate professional disciplines. The practice's intellectual and practical starting point was the public realm. muf sought to design spaces that could be appropriated by users and adapted to changing patterns of social life. At the same time, it criticized the tendency to confine care, emotional investment and responsibility to the private sphere. Its work consequently addressed not only physical form but also the rules, expectations and power relationships that influence who can use a place and how. Flexible working was an important part of the practice's organizational culture. muf supported arrangements that accommodated childcare and external teaching, reflecting a broader feminist critique of conventional architectural practice. This emphasis on collaboration and care also influenced the way the group worked with communities, clients, artists, local authorities and other design professionals. During the 2000s, muf completed a series of public-space projects that established its reputation in the United Kingdom. These included the Broadway Estate Park in Tilbury, which incorporated a public area and dressage arena, and Barking Town Square, completed in 2008. Barking became one of the practice's best-known examples of a civic space designed around use, performance, movement and the possibility of an evolving public life. The project received the European Prize for Urban Public Space. muf expanded its work through collaborations and strategic studies in East London. Making Space in Dalston, produced with J&L Gibbons, combined landscape, public art, research and local observation. Related work included the Eastern Curve and studies of Hackney Wick and Fish Island. The practice also worked on Mile End Bridge and the renewal of Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel in 2011. These commissions demonstrated muf's interest in temporary conditions, informal occupation, local knowledge and the relationship between regeneration and existing communities. In 2010, muf was appointed artistic director of the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. The appointment brought its methods to a global architectural audience and reinforced its role as both a design practice and a critical cultural producer. The group continued to participate in exhibitions and biennales, including the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, the Vienna exhibition Critical Care: Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet, the 2019 São Paulo Biennale and the 2019 Singapore Biennale. The 2010s also saw muf work across cultural, educational and residential settings. Its projects included Wonderlab at the Science Museum, a major interactive science-gallery environment, and the public realm at Kings Crescent Estate. The latter, delivered with Karakusevic Carson and Henley Halebrown, received major RIBA recognition and the Mayor's Prize at the New London Awards in 2018. Another notable project was Golden Lane Estate Play in 2019. Alongside built work, muf produced manuals, design codes, planning guidance and essays. This Is What We Do: A muf Manual set out aspects of its practice, while later guidance addressed public space in Whitechapel, localism, Hackney Wick and Fish Island, and the Barking public realm. These documents helped make the practice's methods portable beyond individual commissions. muf's continuing significance lies in its refusal to separate design from social use. Its projects treat public space as an ongoing negotiation involving residents, institutions, designers and users. The practice is therefore best characterized as an interdisciplinary and socially engaged design collaborative rather than a conventional corporate architecture brand.

• 2019

  Golden Lane Estate Play

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  muf completes the Golden Lane Estate Play project.

• 2018

  Kings Crescent Estate receives major awards

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  The public-realm work at Kings Crescent Estate receives RIBA National and London Regional Awards and the Mayor's Prize at the New London Awards.

• 2016

  Wonderlab at the Science Museum

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  The practice contributes to the design of Wonderlab, an interactive gallery at London's Science Museum.

• 2011

  Altab Ali Park renovation

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  muf works on the renovation of Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel.

• 2010

  British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  muf is appointed artistic director and contributes to the British Pavilion.

• 2008

  Barking Town Square

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  The practice completes Barking Town Square, a major civic public-space project later recognized by the European Prize for Urban Public Space.

• 2005

  Broadway Estate Park, Tilbury

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  muf completes a new public area incorporating a dressage arena for horses.

• 1995

  Early multidisciplinary structure established

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  The group is described as consisting of Juliet Bidgood, Liza Fior and Katherine Clarke, with Katherine Shonfield collaborating regularly.

• 1994

  muf is formed in London

  [1]Mufen.wikipedia.org

  The collaborative begins after receiving temporary office space on Great Sutton Street, bringing together architects, an artist and urban-theory collaborators.

A socially engaged, interdisciplinary urban-design practice that uses architecture, art, landscape and research to create adaptable public spaces and strengthen users' ability to occupy and shape them.

• Public-realm design · 2008

  Barking Town Square

  A civic square in Barking, London, designed as a flexible public setting for circulation, gathering, events and everyday occupation. The project became one of muf's best-known works and received the European Prize for Urban Public Space. Its significance lies in treating the square as an active social framework rather than as a purely formal landscape composition.

• Urban design and landscape · 2010

  Making Space in Dalston

  A collaborative body of work with J&L Gibbons addressing public space, landscape, local observation and regeneration in Dalston, East London. The work included the Eastern Curve and related interventions that explored temporary use, community activity and the capacity of urban spaces to support multiple forms of ownership and participation.

• Park renovation · 2011

  Altab Ali Park

  A renovation project in Whitechapel, London, undertaken in 2011. The work connected the improvement of a public park with the area's cultural and political memory, while retaining the practice's emphasis on everyday use, accessibility and the ability of visitors to shape the atmosphere of a place.

• Museum and exhibition design · 2016

  Wonderlab

  An interactive gallery at the Science Museum in London. muf's contribution extended its interest in participation and informal occupation into a museum environment, creating a setting intended to support active exploration rather than passive viewing.

• Residential public-realm design · 2018

  Kings Crescent Estate Public Realm

  Public-realm work for Kings Crescent Estate delivered with Karakusevic Carson and Henley Halebrown. The project addressed the landscape and shared spaces associated with housing renewal and was recognized with RIBA National and London Regional Awards as well as the Mayor's Prize at the New London Awards.

• Professional publication · 2001

  This Is What We Do: A muf Manual

  A book published in 2001 that documents and communicates muf's approach to architecture, art, participation and public-space practice. It functions as a methodological account of the collaborative rather than as a consumer product.

• 2010

  Expand public-realm practice into international architectural exhibitionStrategy

  Background

  muf's work had developed across architecture, art, landscape and urban research, creating a basis for presenting its ideas about public space to an international audience.

  Action taken

  The practice accepted appointment as artistic director of the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

  Aftermath

  The appointment increased the visibility of muf's interdisciplinary and socially engaged approach within international architectural discourse.

  Source

1. 1Mufen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Whitechapel Public Realm and Open Space Guidanceissuu.com
3. 3Is This What You Mean by Localism?issuu.com
4. 4Hackney Wick & Fish Island Design and Planning Guidanceissuu.com
5. 5The Barking Code for the Public Realm and how it should be appliedissuu.com
6. 6Making Space in Dalstonissuu.com