Close
The Institute of Making is hotting up at UCL East
4 April 2024
The UCL Institute of Making has hosted its first 'Member Masterclass', with blacksmiths Richard Pace and Lizzie Huges bringing their mobile forge to the brand new facility in the Marshgate building of our UCL East campus.
The external team delivered six sessions in blacksmithing for Institute of Making members. Under the skilful guidance of Richard Pace and Lizzie Hughes, members learnt to heat metal to about 1000 degrees in a coke forge, to fettle metal, and to use hammers and anvils to learn the fundamental techniques used in the trade.
Lizzie and Richard are the team behind The Urban Crafts Foundation blacksmith forge based in Essex. UCF is passionate about keeping heritage metalworking techniques alive and furthers this by making these skills relevant and understood by the public, consumers, and people working in the creative industries.
The Institute of Making is a multidisciplinary research club for those interested in the made world: from makers of molecules to makers of buildings, synthetic skin to spacecraft, soup to diamonds, socks to cities. Membership and day-to-day access to the Institute is available to all UCL staff and students.
If you are a UCL student or member of staff interested in joining the Institute of Making, all you need to do is register online and attend an induction session for access to everything it offers.
Future events at the Institute of Making include their annual Festival of Stuff. A Saturday extravaganza which invites everyone to celebrate the sheer joy of making stuff. On 6 July 1-5pm the Institute of Making will be hosting a one-day, large-scale, drop-in and totally free street festival about making and materials. The event will be filled to the brim with delectable making madness, including mind-boggling demonstrations, exciting hands-on activities, good music and improbable food stalls.
The full line up for the Festival of Stuff will be announced soon, for now save the date in your diary and sign up to the mailing list to receive festival updates and news.