Art & Science
OUD is enhancing Begbroke Science Park’s landscape through the arts and culture programme, commissioning site-specific works of public art to create a stimulating environment for residents, students, staff and visitors.
An interdisciplinary programme that celebrates and facilitates collaboration, knowledge exchange research and scientific endeavour
Providing a space for practitioners to explore and experiment with materials and processes that could positively impact people and planet
“The programme includes space and funding for researchers and practitioners to collaborate, building a relationship between the science park and residential communities – current and future – reflecting the ethos of this new form of innovation district. At its heart is a commitment to people – especially the young, through co-design and learning – and the act of making – with its connections to health, wellbeing and mental resilience.”
Anna Strongman, CEO, Oxford University Development
The Weed Garden is a work in progress by Turner Prize winning architecture practice Assemble and garden designer Sarah Alun-Jones,
‘Another Landscape’
‘Another Landscape’ Programme: Bridging Art, Science, and Community
The ‘Another Landscape’ programme is a cornerstone of the Begbroke Innovation District, merging art and science to enrich the environment for residents, students, and visitors. This initiative is dedicated to fostering collaboration, research, and creative expression through site-specific art and community engagement.
Plant Cultivation and Regenerative Materials: Harnessing Begbroke’s historical expertise in ecological research, artworks will explore the intersection of plant life and sustainable practices
Stone and Earth: Drawing on Oxford’s legacy of limestone architecture, this aspect reimagines traditional materials into an accessible and playful narrative
Material Sciences: At the heart of Begbroke Science Park, interdisciplinary research between various scientific divisions inspires innovative artistic expression
The Weed Garden is a work in progress by Turner Prize winning architecture practice Assemble and garden designer Sarah Alun-Jones,
Ongoing Projects and Highlights
The Outdoor Canvas and ‘Ungrounding’
Developed by STORE, this modular structure serves as a dynamic platform for art, theatre, and community events. Its first installation, ‘Ungrounding’ by The Rodina, intertwines historical artefacts with modern data, sparking dialogue between past and present.
Artist-in-Residence: Jaimini Patel
Jaimini Patel’s residency introduces a series of transformative works, starting from spring 2024. Her projects will evolve with the landscape, reflecting ecological cycles and community interactions.
The Weed Garden by Assemble
Launching in spring 2024, this innovative space blends architecture and botany, celebrating Begbroke’s heritage as a leader in weed research. It offers a meditative space while honouring native plant life.
Plant Cultivation and Regenerative Materials: Harnessing Begbroke’s historical expertise in ecological research, artworks will explore the intersection of plant life and sustainable practices
Stone and Earth: Drawing on Oxford’s legacy of limestone architecture, this aspect reimagines traditional materials into an accessible and playful narrative
Material Sciences: At the heart of Begbroke Science Park, interdisciplinary research between various scientific divisions inspires innovative artistic expression
The Weed Garden is a work in progress by Turner Prize winning architecture practice Assemble and garden designer Sarah Alun-Jones,
Ongoing Projects and Highlights
The Outdoor Canvas and ‘Ungrounding’
Developed by STORE, this modular structure serves as a dynamic platform for art, theatre, and community events. Its first installation, ‘Ungrounding’ by The Rodina, intertwines historical artefacts with modern data, sparking dialogue between past and present.
Artist-in-Residence: Jaimini Patel
Jaimini Patel’s residency introduces a series of transformative works, starting from spring 2024. Her projects will evolve with the landscape, reflecting ecological cycles and community interactions.
The Weed Garden by Assemble
Launching in spring 2024, this innovative space blends architecture and botany, celebrating Begbroke’s heritage as a leader in weed research. It offers a meditative space while honouring native plant life.
Ungrounding and the Outdoor Canvas by STORE
The first work, now installed, is a series of modular structures by the architecture and design association STORE. The ‘Outdoor Canvas’ has been designed and developed alongside a series of workshops with local secondary school students, and provides a platform for an annual art installation, as well as a configurable set for outdoor theatre, music performances or cinema screenings in the future.
‘Art and science are often portrayed in dichotomy, but in most cases both are thought-provoking and open to some type of interpretation. I believe this piece of art sits at the intersection of two disciplinary worlds’
Justin Limkaichong, University of Oxford, Polymer Group
The inaugural installation featured on the Outdoor Canvas is Ungrounding by design studio The Rodina. The artwork explores technology used at the Begbroke site throughout time, telling the story of the landscape by weaving together data imagery from the University of Oxford’s Polymer Group: Department of Materials’ research with artefacts found during archaeological excavations in the area, ranging from copper brooches and axe heads to keys and horse harnesses.
Artist in Residence: Jaimini Patel
London-based Jaimini Patel has been selected as Begbroke’s first artist-in-residence. Jaimini’s practice typically explores how materials and spaces hold memories and associations, using small interventions to discover ways in which they can be transformed or reconfigured. Over the course of her residency, Patel will work as part of the master-planning team of Hawkins\Brown and landscape specialists Okra to develop the design code for the site, and in partnership with academics and researchers from the University of Oxford to create a series of interdisciplinary, site-specific installations.
The Weed Garden by Assemble
Arriving in Begbroke in spring 2024, the Weed Garden by the Turner Prize-winning architecture practice Assemble and garden designer Sarah Alun-Jones is both an artwork and an inventive biodiversity initiative. Celebrating the plants that many would regard as weeds, the garden combines planting and architectural elements to create a space of humble beauty.
‘Art and science are often portrayed in dichotomy, but in most cases both are thought-provoking and open to some type of interpretation. I believe this piece of art sits at the intersection of two disciplinary worlds’
Justin Limkaichong, University of Oxford, Polymer Group
The inaugural installation featured on the Outdoor Canvas is Ungrounding by design studio The Rodina. The artwork explores technology used at the Begbroke site throughout time, telling the story of the landscape by weaving together data imagery from the University of Oxford’s Polymer Group: Department of Materials’ research with artefacts found during archaeological excavations in the area, ranging from copper brooches and axe heads to keys and horse harnesses.
