The Lockdown Space collection invited people to submit observations on how their home environment had changed during lockdown.
Domestic spaces became extraordinary through the way in which people had to rapidly re-imagine their homes. The Lockdown Space collection documents these unusual temporary and ‘in-between’ liminal spaces. The domestic home became the place where we work, socialise, exercise, learn, create, entertain, play, celebrate and escape.
Originally commissioned as part of the Tate Exchange programme at the Tate Modern (July 2021). This project is in collaboration with Pete Maloney.
© Collectarium 2022

Design Activity 01: Lockdown Space

Collectarium Lockdown Space: Sharing domestic transformations and innovations for pandemics.
Paper presented at the Urban Assemblage: The City as Architecture, Media, AI + Big Data conference, June 2021. As part of (AMPS) Architecture, Media, Politics + Society at the University of Hertfordshire.
This project is in collaboration with Pete Maloney.

Now Play This 2024 at Somerset House April 6-14 2024
Now Play This celebrates its first decade of exploring games and playfulness by highlighting the creative power and ubiquity of play.
It is a call to reconsider our understanding of play and games and their relationship to our everyday lives and to other artforms.

Now Play This 2024 Review
The Observer by Simon Parkin
04 April 2024

For the festival we selected 3 contributions from our Lockdown Space Collection and created participatory activities responding to the festivals theme of “Liminality: Playing between worlds” - an invitation to think of PLAY as a place both for introspection and connection.

Indoor Hopscotch
The Lockdown Space Collection was a project we did in 2021 which invited people to submit observations on how their home environment had changed during lockdown. See our main Lockdown Space Collection page.

Indoor Hopscotch

Pineapple Dance

Pineapple Dance

Stair Slide
Curator Luján Oulton, Lead producer Nick Murray, Assistant producer, Susie Buchan & Tech Lead Jo Summers.
This project is in collaboration with Pete Maloney.
- Adapted
- Change of Use
- Distraction
- Home school
- Inventions
- ISOLATION
- Makeshift
- Movement
- Outside Inside
- Play
- Re-imagined
- Renovation
- Retreat
- Ritual
- shared
- Staycation
- Temporary
- Virtual Space
- Working from home
- ← See All

Maker:
Louis Nixon
Location:
Sha Tin, Hong Kong
Text:
Beach tent camping on the balcony.
#insideoutside
#balconycamping
#lockdowncampingathome

Maker:
Manuela + Nya
Location:
London, UK
Text:
Nya has transported herself to a sunny beach for a swim.
#reimaginedspace
#staycation
#lockdownplay

Maker:
Rick Horne
Location:
Harrogate, UK
Text:
'Replaced my gym membership. Saved me from a mental health perspective in the early part of the pandemic when I was asked to shield. I can meet up chat and cycle in the virtual world with real-world friends without getting the virus'.
#virtualcycling
#indoorcycling
#ridewithfriends

Maker:
Veronica Cordovadelarosa
Location:
Oxford, UK
Text:
'I teach art on zoom to children so my place has also become a studio space'.
#zoomroom
#temporarystudio
#changeofuse

Maker:
Eliza Davis Beard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
Yin and Yang WFH.
#shareadesk
#adaptaspace
#workingfromhome

Maker:
Pete Maloney
Location:
London, UK
#lockdownden
#lockdownplay
#insideoutside

Maker:
Allyson Waller
Location:
Portslade, UK
Text:
'I put this light on outside my studio to let my family know I am teaching online. It hasn’t completely worked, my son still crawls in on the floor dodging the camera, and tickles my feet'.
#improvisedsetup
#lockdowninventions
#homeschooling

Maker:
Sarah Young
Location:
Leeds, UK
Text:
Lockdown swimming training.
#lockdowntraining
#gardenpool
#changeofuse

Maker:
Naya Magaliou
Location:
Athens, Greece
Text:
Lockdown Kitchen Studio.
#makeshiftstudio
#workinginthekitchen
#changeofuse

Maker:
Hera McLeod
Location:
Washington, USA
Text:
'Note handed to me by my older daughter while I was presenting in an important business meeting’.
#homedistractions
#workingfromhome
#homeschooling

Maker:
Emma Craig
Location:
Henley-on-Thames, UK
Text:
‘Making scrubs for the RBH in Reading today. It’s a massive learning curve for me. I’ve not made an item of clothing since I was 16’.
#adaptaspace
#changeofuse
#lockdownmaking

Maker:
Nicola Tree
Location:
London, UK
Text:
Lockdown swimming.
#imaginedspace
#lockdownswimming
#lockdownimagination

Maker:
Elisa Baldini
Location:
Brussels, Belgium
Text:
Isolation day.
#drawingonwindows
#lockdownview
#lockdownwithchildren

Maker:
Natalie J Read
Text:
‘If you can’t get your interior just right green screen it!’
#filmingathome
#makeshiftstudio
#changeofuse

Maker:
Diana Ammann
Location:
Basel, Switzerland
Text:
‘The reality of costume design during covid'.
#lockdownreality
#expandedspace
#lockdownworking

Maker:
Laura Howard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘When lockdown struck I was in the middle of recording an E.P. I have begged, borrowed, and bought all the equipment I need to record it at home and turned my home office into a studio. Needless to say, it’s still not finished'.
#homestudio
#lockdowndistractions
#adaptedspace

Maker:
Sagarika Suri
Location:
Mumbai, India
Text:
'Staying in looking out'.
#stayhome
#stayinginlookingout
#lockdownhome

Maker:
Riccardo Festa
Location:
Milan, Italy
Text:
‘In this picture you can see my seat for online acting classes. To recreate a theatrical neutral environment I needed a black background. I never thought I’d end up acting in the closet’.
#changeofuse
#lockdowntheatre
#adaptedspace

Maker:
Alex Bell
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Isolation Landscapes - Iceland. Making things feel a little more magical from the confines of my bedroom in these strange times. I am projecting images onto the wall of places I’ve travelled’.
#isolationlandscapes
#projectedspace
#imaginaryroom

Maker:
Sophie Beard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
Lockdown cubs camping weekend.
#campingindoors
#kitchencamping
#changeofuse

Maker:
Carly Campbell
Location:
UK
Text:
‘Anyone else having to use their child’s bedroom as an office?’
#bedroomoffice
#workingfromhome
#tryingtoadapt

Maker:
Minglu Lu
Location:
Beijing, China
Text:
'Due to the current epidemic situation, we can’t go to the college to communicate and study normally offline, which has affected us a lot. Now I can only make full use of what I have around me, computers, irons and different materials to create a convenient and rich creative environment'.
#zoomuniversity
#kitchenstudio
#makeshiftstudio

Maker:
Gavin Kellett
Location:
London, UK
Text:
The Zoom Room
#zoomroom
#lockdowndistractions
#workingfromhome

Maker:
Symone Planner
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Gave our balcony a makeover this week. It’s gone from being unusable due to birds messing everywhere to our own little haven. Our little man has a safe space to play and grow some flowers and of an evening us adults can relax’.
#balconymakeover
#transformedspace
#rethinkthebalcony

Maker:
Ciara Finnegan
Location:
Noord, Netherlands
Text:
'The Indoor Tree offers a bespoke, out-of-body, out of this world, holiday experience'.
#outofthisworld
#existentialholiday
#stayingindoors

Maker:
Alice Beard
Location:
Sha Tin, Hong Kong
Text:
'Furry classroom assistants help out with home learning’.
#homeschooling
#makeshiftclassroom
#cathelpers
Maker:
Angus Grant
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Fully embracing the perks of working from home’.
#workingfromhome
#livingroomoffice
#temporaryspace

Maker:
Henry Newman
Location:
London, UK
Text:
'Lockdown shooting. Improvised setups with minimal equipment. Table shot for VG&P. Trying to keep the kids out of the way and juggle homeschooling. Bring on Monday. Being back in the studio will be such a luxury. The Tripp Trapp does make a good laptop stand!’
#improvisedsetup
#homestudio
#temporaryspace

Maker:
Sally Tatchell
Location:
London, UK
Text:
'A Wine-Dow' Keeping the neighbours sane.'
#adaptaspace
#lockdownwindow
#lockdowninventions

Maker:
Emma Kayne
Location:
London, UK
Text:
'Add mdf and a ping pong net'.
#changeofuse
#lockdownplay
#flexiblespace

Maker:
Liz Stirling
Location:
Leeds, UK
Text:
‘Home studio wall in back room, squeezed in with eating and homeschooling’.
#homeschooling
#makeshift
#homestudio

Maker:
Nick Allen
Location:
Christchurch, New Zealand
Text:
‘Day Six: The insanity may be setting in. This is what happens when I can’t get out to climb. It’s a pretty fun challenge!’
#climbingspaces
#climbingwalls
#stayathome

Maker:
Emma Friedlander-Collins
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
‘Cardboard Box Tank’.
#cardboardretreat
#lockdownplay
#hideaway

Maker:
Emily Besser
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Kitchen studio shared school space. Food and Art! My drawing space is on the other side of Henry’s computer. I can see in the reflection behind him if he’s doing his work or not!’
#sharedspaces
#homeschool
#kitchenstudio

Maker:
Veronica Cordovadelarosa
Location:
Oxford, UK
Text:
‘My place became a studio for filming.
I do workshops for children on Zoom’.
#zoomroom
#makeshiftstudio
#lockdownartclass

Maker:
Chris Roberts
Location:
Somerset, UK
Text:
'Having renovated the front part of our building, we’ve moved into the #brutoncorrespondenceschool part of it. We are having to do everything in stages so we don’t need to move out. This is where we’ve been making our mail art, correspondence art pieces until our lovely new studio space is ready. Our walls are part wip work in progress but also have some of the cards we’ve received from collaborators’.
#temporarystudio
#documentedspaces
#makeshiftspace

Maker:
Sun Star
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Hallucinations appear in isolation’.
#reimaginedspace
#mindspace
#isolationspace

Maker:
Camille
Location:
Oxford, UK
Text:
‘I built a mini cardboard kitchen for my 3 year old daughter in the corner of our kitchen as it is the room we spend most of the time in during lockdown. She could pretend to cook whilst I am cooking too’.
#cardboardkitchen
#makeshiftspaces
#temporaryspace

Maker:
Emily Besser
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Lockdown camping in the garden’.
#lockdowncamping
#lockdownspaces
#campinginthegarden

Maker:
Nick Allen
Location:
Christchurch, New Zealand
Text:
‘Day three: time for culling books. I have too many books and I am increasingly appreciative of cutting back, decluttering, and keeping it simple. Here, I managed to cut two bookcases down to one - I was pretty proud of myself for being so ruthless. However, I have three more bookcases and several boxes to go’.
#lockdownchanges
#stayathome
#lockdowncleaning

Maker:
Emma Friedlander-Collins
Location:
Brighton, UK
#unfinishedpainting
#lockdownrenovation
#nofreetime

Maker:
Vanessa Rolf
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Tricky to get a pic of this dark hole adopted by Luca. He has moved most of his possessions in here. Getting to the front door is now more of a challenge'.
#makeshiftspace
#lockdownden
#adaptedspace


Maker:
Brett Barnard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Lockdown love. One of my favourite moments of one of the craziest times of all time. Incredible window work by the amazing @stengun_drawings'.
#lockdownimagination
#outsideinside
#transformedspaces

Maker:
Kate Warren
Location:
New York, USA
Text:
‘Welcome to the “practice bunker”, yes that’s a mattress pretending to be acoustic sound panelling... Living in a tiny New York apartment with extra-thin walls I’m incredibly grateful there’s an empty bed in our apartment right now because it gives me the luxury of having a whole room to practice in! Quarantine is definitely crimping my style but I’m forever grateful for my ever-understanding roommate and neighbours’.
#practicebunker
#lockdowninventions
#workingfromhome

Maker:
Katy Beinart
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
‘Chairs being repurposed’.
#repurposedfurniture
#storagesolutions
#homeschooling

Maker:
Sophie Beard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
'Lockdown puppy takeover’.
#reclaimedspace
#lockdowndistractions
#changeofuse

Maker:
Mini Climber
Location:
London, UK
Text:
'Finding use for the dead space in the corridor and turning it into a place for fun body movements. Lots of creative flow was had setting routes to keep me entertained throughout lockdown’.
#lockdownclimbing
#climbingwalls
#changeofuse

Maker:
Ally Waller
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
'Virtual Nana'.
#virtualnana
#lockdownbabysitting
#digitalspace

Maker:
Dawn East
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
‘Zoom workshops are not my favourite as I much prefer to see real faces but it’s a fun new way we’ve learned to communicate and navigate this year. Here’s a pic of a clay leaf printing workshop I ran for N Family Club last year'.
#zoomroom
#adaptedspace
#virtualstudio

Maker:
The Smallest of Worlds - A Social Landscape of Collected Privacy
Location:
Berlin, Germany
Text:
'Spaces are an invitation to curiosity, imagination, and exploration. They are open to multiple readings and are meant to be looked at, listened to, and felt!'
#virtualhome
#domesticspace
#selfisolation

Maker:
Sophie Beard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
Lockdown Crystal Palace Brass Band Practice.
#outsidestudio
#changeofuse
#temporaryroom


Maker:
Pete Maloney
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘At Easter we tested out Google’s Easter Bunny AR to bring some Easter magic into the living room’.
#virtualspace
#augmentedreality
#lockdowneaster

Maker:
Lâl Yilmaz
Location:
Istanbul, Turkey
Text:
‘My workspace at home whilst studying online’.
#workingonthefloor
#temporarystudio
#expandedstudio

Maker:
Karni + Saul
Location:
Bristol, UK
Text:
‘Afloat. Self portrait in lockdown 1 in our messy garden full of kids toys and distractions. At the end of a long hot day week month. In isolation our small garden was our comfort our hiding place. We never went inside... it was like one long strange summer camp alone with just our family’.
#lockdownpool
#isolationgarden
#lockdownpleasures

Maker:
Laura Westcott
Location:
Cardiff, UK
Text:
'How I'm training handstands in lockdown'.
#lockdowndistractions
#lockdowncleaning
#stayingathome

Maker:
Paul Ridout + Maude Ridout Bond
Location:
Falmouth, UK
Text:
‘Throughout 2020 Maude has been filling her time with her grandparents by honing her card-playing skills. An ongoing issue has been that her hands aren’t big enough to hold all her cards at once. So her grandpa Paul Ridout built her this stand in order to display everything simultaneously. It has upped her game tremendously’.
#indoorgames
#gamesroom
#lockdowninventions

Maker:
Jill Schiefelbein
Location:
Texas, USA
Text:
Lockdown Makeshift Studio.
#workingfromhome
#makeshiftstudio
#transformedspaces

Maker:
Dawn East
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
'Waiting for plaster to dry'.
#lockdownrenovation
#pingpongroom
#changeofuse

Maker:
Kerri Burton
Location:
Lewes, UK
Text:
'Other people are using Lockdown to re-decorate their houses. We’re using it to gradually destroy ours'.
#stairslide
#changeofuse
#lockdownplay

Maker:
Robin Johnson Harriford
Location:
Columbia, USA
Text:
‘Box Fort - My husband and I just moved. We kept the boxes as we unpacked and built a box fort for our grandson when he came to visit. It stayed intact for three weeks! He would have liked it to be permanent’.
#createaspace
#lockdownfort
#cardboardroom

Maker:
Nikki Crichton
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
Therapy zoom room / ceramic studio / bedroom.
#changeofuse
#flexiblespace
#improvisedsetup

Maker:
Elaine Perks
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
Wine, chilli sauce and apple.
#temporarystudio
#kitchenstudio
#workingfromhome

Maker:
Scott Poulson
Location:
Norwich, UK
Text:
'Lockdown Street Lights Party'.
#lockdownparty
#stayingathome
#transformedspaces

Maker:
Dylan Collard
Location:
London, UK
Text:
'Some BTS of my lockdown project that I shot over the summer. This was the first of the series done before I’d brought some sandbags home. Spot the washing up bottle and paint cans to steady the boomed camera!’
#makeshiftstudio
#changeofuse
#lockdowninventions


Maker:
Tobias Revell
Location:
London, UK
Text:
‘Mrs Revell calls it a man cave, Zwifters call it a pain cave. I call it my office’.
#indoorcyclying
#paincave
#virtualspace

Maker:
Sakhi Pol
Location:
Mumbai, India
Text:
‘I am based in Mumbai, India and I am studying at university in London. I have been attending online school like this as the Dell XPS 15 has a horrible webcam situated at the bottom of the screen. I have realised the importance of a webcam! I have had this laptop for 4 years now and never had to use it before covid. Since we don’t have physical contact, virtual eye contact becomes important’.
#lockdowninventions
#onlineschool
#makeshiftspace

Maker:
Sam Titterton
Location:
Brighton, UK
Text:
'Pull up bar becomes swing. TV room becomes gym'.
#lockdownexercise
#changeofuse
#makeshiftgym

Maker:
Karni + Saul
Location:
Bristol, UK
Text:
‘Home been watching this shadow (or is it light) closely for a year now. Don’t get tired of it. The position as it crawls along the wall letting the outside in. The yellow. The light. I’m a lighthunter after all...’
#lockdownlight
#changingrooms
#stayingathome

Maker:
Carmel O'Connell
Location:
Oregon, USA
Text:
‘Added some colour to a drab basement door.’
#rethinkthebasement
#changingrooms
#lockdownrenovation

Maker:
Sarah Adams
Location:
UK
Text:
‘Throughout lockdown our humble garden shed has not only transformed into my home office, but also the place of celebration’.
#changeofuse
#changingrooms
#stayhome

Maker:
Jordyn Hotchkiss
Location:
New Hampshire, USA
Text:
The living room becomes a studio’.
#changeofuse
#temporarystudio
#workingfromhome

Maker:
Britney Pierini
Location:
New York, USA
Text:
‘How to vacation during quarantine’.
1. Put on your bathing suit. 2. Make yourself the perfect poolside cocktail (there are no drinking rules during vacation or quarantine). 3. Find the perfect sunny spot (likely from that one window in your apt). 4. Bring in plant life for the ultimate jungle feel.
#staycation
#outsideinside
#lockdownimagination

Maker:
Debbie James
Location:
Leicester, UK
Text:
‘If they won’t let me open my bookshop, I will turn The Fiction Room into my new office and you can all telephone / write to me here when you need books. Everything we have in stock is on the website too. Have a browse and pretend you’re really here!’
#bookshopathome
#changeofuse
#workingfromhome

Maker:
Jo Addison
Location:
London, UK
#lockdowninventions
#homeschooling
#changeofuse