About me

I am James Harrington - a creative professional with a transdisciplinary and collaborative practice that spans the fields of art, architecture, research, education, community organisining and community-led development.

Underpinning my work is a belief that art and design are powerful tools for transformation, creatively  relating with our world, and engaging with others.


My practice is applied as a freelancer and across roles with a number of organisations: I am a director of social enterprise architecture, art and research practice collective Studio Polpo; a board member of Sheffield Community Land Trust (SCLT) taking an active role in leading and delivering the trust’s work; and a Lecturer in Architectural Design at Leeds School of Art, Leeds Beckett University, often guest lecturing for other universities and organisations across architecture and arts. In 2022 I worked with Live Works, University of Sheffield to co-produced the Urban Room Toolkit, a resource to aid communities, organisation and local authroties to create spaces for people to come together to shape the future of their local area. Since 2018 I have been an active member of Social Art Network, a community of artists committed to building agency for the fields of art and social practice, co-leading the network as a ‘caretaker’ (co-lead) from 2021-2023, and co-leading Sheffield region since 2020.

I am a RIBA Part 2 architectural designer, graduating my MArch from the Sheffield School of Architecture in 2020 with distinction. I have strong design and practice based experience; prior to working with Studio Polpo I previously worked with award-wining, design-led practices Levitate, and Ash Sakula, across a range of sectors, such as conservation, public and cultural buildings, housing, as well as temporary architecture, and installations.


I am based in Sheffield and work across the UK.

Contact me to discuss your project.

Details

James Harrington
MArch(Dist), BA(Hons)

Pronouns: he/they

CURRENT POSITIONS
    James Harrington Art & Architecture (2018 - Present)
    Studio Polpo, Director (2022 - Present), Collective member. (2018 - Present)
    Leeds School of Arts, Leeds Beckett University, PT Lecturer in Architectural Design (2023 - Present)
    Sheffield Community Land Trust, Board Member (2023 - Present) Active member (2022 - Present)
    Social Art Network Sheffield, Co-lead (2020 - Present)

PAST POSITIONS
    Social Art Network UK, Caretaker (2021 - 2023)
    Social Art Library Ambassador. (with Studio Polpo) (2021)
    Social ARTery Pioneer (with Social Art Network Sheffield) (2021)
    SSoA Students for Climate Action, Co-founder. (2019-2020)
    Levitate Architecture & Design Studio, Architectural Assistant. (2015 - 2017)
    Ash Sakula / Canning Town Caravanserai, Design & Build. (2013)

Features + Press

Shortlisted: The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) Awards 2023 (December 2022) [Heeley Mushroom Project, Studio Polpo]

Is Sheffield’s high street ready for a post-retail future?, Richard Waite, Architects Journal (24 November 2022)
“How is Sheffield reviving its city centre? Why is a community land trust targeting vacant shops for new homes? And what can be done with its empty 1960s John Lewis store? Richard Waite investigates” [Sheffield Community Trust / Studio Polpo]

Climate Action & Visual Culture, Laura Mateescu,Tabassum Ahmed, Temporary Contemporary, and Centre for Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture, The University of Huddersfield (July 2021) [Contributor, featuring Future Burngreave]

How Studio Polpo treats architecture as a community service, RIBA J, (24 February 2021) [Studio Polpo]

Meet the Pioneers!, Axis (Nov 2020) [online press release] [SAN Sheffield]

Social Art Library Ambassadors Announced, Axis (Nov 2020) [online press release] [Studio Polpo]

ACAN EDUCATION – Interview Series VOL.2: SSoA Students for Climate Action, (07 June 2020) [SSoA Students for Climate Action]

Student Special Review, ‘Sheffield School of Architecture’, Architects Journal, (23 July 2020) [SSoA Students for Climate Action]

No ivory towers at Sheffield School of Architecture, Steve Parnell, RIBA J (24 March 2020) [SSoA Students for Climate Action]