The Feelings Library

One in four of us will experience mental health challenges in our lifetime, something that has been significantly impacted by the global pandemic. Challenges with our mental health can feel incredibly isolating, when in reality it’s something so many of us experience.

The project aims to transport visitors out of the hustle and bustle of London. We took inspiration from the projects we’ve completed in more tropical parts of the world, and created a space using natural materials, with a thatch cladding you’re more likely to find by an exotic beach than an office block.

The monolith is intended to be a striking contrast to the surrounding cityscape, getting people to pay attention, and take a moment to make their feelings a priority.

Journaling is an important part of processing thoughts, and what can be even more valuable is the realisation that you are not alone in the way that you’re feeling. Inside, visitors are faced with 10 books, each titled with a different feeling or emotion and containing a series of prompts that encourage users to start their journaling.

The structure sits within a skip, symbolic of clearing things out – in this case; feelings. Skip Gallery is a new type of itinerant art space, presenting an alternative to the conventional routes to art, for both artists and audience. The installation has since been dismantled and transported to a secondary school in Peckham (Harris Academy) where students will reimagine what the structure could become. By the end of 2022 a new installation designed and built by the students will use 100 per cent of the Feelings Library materials.