Open House Worldwide
- London, Essex, GB
Open House Worldwide Employees
Open House Worldwide Details
The ‘Open House’ concept was founded in London in 1992 by the organisation now known as Open-City (and its founder, Victoria Thornton) The aim has always been to help change perceptions, break down barriers and inspire people to demand more high-quality places and spaces, in essence for everyone to experience, debate, advocate and influence. Over its 25-year history a simple but universal way of achieving this has remained at its heart – opening up examples of high-quality buildings and spaces to everyone entirely for free over one weekend a year. Since 1992, 36 cities across five continents have taken up the Open House concept, and they now form the Open House Worldwide Family of affiliated cities. Today more than 750,000 people take part globally in Open House initiatives, from Lagos to Brisbane and Barcelona to Buenos Aires – and new cities are coming on board every year. Open House is a worldwide phenomenon with common values, but each city operates independently at a local level with programmes tailored to local needs – a feature that is critical to its success. The rise of the Open House movement over the past two decades is a response to a shift in the way people live, work and use the city; to more recognition that they should play a major role in how their cities are shaped; and to an understanding that local and global issues in cities are always interlinked. Open House is unique in creating a shared and non-political community of interest and forum where policymakers, the public and professionals meet on an equal footing. www.openhouseworldwide.org www.open-city.org.uk
