Skip to main content
KBS_Icon_questionmark link-ico

Nowville


Nowville was an evolving interactive sculpture that told the story of a future city, building on and embellishing the vision of King’s staff and students at The Arcade, Bush House. Beginning as a blank canvas of a paper model city, this silent metropolis  empty apart from rows of ghostly buildings, blank billboards and winding streets, transformed into a collective vision of the future.


Nowville Conventions

Four Nowville Conventions took place in The Arcade at Bush House. They were:

Nowville-Jenny-Leonard-420
TIME CAPSULE with  Jenny Leonard Art

Work with talented artist Jenny Leonard to fill a time capsule, by using paints, words and postcards to create colourful visual stories that capture the essence of the city.

 
 

Nowville sesh1-18The opening of Nowville parliament

This was the first day of Nowville and the convention opened a forum on how we will run the city with Paddy Roberts, co-founder of  Grow Heathrow and campaigner for radical utopian community building in real life.

 

Nowville sesh1-56

Nowville-Dec7th-Money-20The day that money came to town

The second Nowville convention decided what, if any, currency we use in the city and on what the economy should run – gold, good intentions? Hosted by  Andrew Simms, author of Tescopoly and Cancel the Apocalypse. In his new book We Are More Than This: Evidence from a Better World, Andrew imagines a world where a better way of life is already the norm. 

 

Nowville-Dec7th-Money-91

Nowville-Silicon Quarry2

Silicon Quarry

Technology: The battle between miniature man and miniature machine. Who will control whom? William Drew is a writer and games designer who is an associate at Coney and Head of Experience for HiddenCity. Drew makes work at the intersection between live performance and gaming.

 

 

Nowville-Silicon Quarry1

 

How will we be remembered?

Language and legacy: What does the culture we made in miniature say about us? How do we tell our tales? What is our impact?

Ruth Potts is a co-founder of  bread, print & roses  a collective engaged in anarchist baking, seditious pamphleteering and radical walks. She teaches ecological design thinking at Schumacher College.


About The Arcade at Bush House

The Arcade at Bush House is part of the Cultural Quarter at King's College London and is home to a varied programme of events, installations and exhibitions, offering a forum where students, the academic community and the public can engage with each other, as well as with artists and cultural partners.  Also home to a welcoming café and the KCLSU Shop, The Arcade offers a direct connection with research and collaborative activity taking place across the university, and provides a new space on the Strand for conversation, reflection and engagement.


Nowville is an Anagram project commissioned by King’s College London as part of World Futures – Change is the only constant value. It was supported by the university's Culture team.

Stay in touch

Email the Culture team

Sign up to the newsletter


Get updates from Nowville on Twitter and Instagram #NowvilleKings

Join the Nowville Citizens group on Facebook.