Hop on the bus and take a trip downtown where the lights are bright, and every street has a story to tell. Explore with fresh eyes the art of the city, then capture a moment in time – perhaps a reflection on a building or a shadow passing by. Make a map of your home town and find out how things have changed. Has time changed town life for the better? How could you improve the urban environment? Maybe add more colour? More light? More things to do, or perhaps a plaza with a comfortable bench or two? Or maybe, like Emil, the city astounds you with its sights and sounds and people rushing by. Now light up the city with creations of your own – a statue, a light show, a monument or street art. The possibilities are endless. What will you choose? You’re an urban pioneer, so get ready to go.

Parent Information

This term, we’ll visit our local town to look at important buildings. We’ll photograph urban art including graffiti, murals and statues. At school, we’ll write an information leaflet about our town. Using digital mapping tools, we’ll identify the streets and buildings that we saw. We’ll investigate cities around the world and find out how they’ve changed over time. We’ll have questions for you about where you work or places you often visit, and we’ll present the data we have collected. As part of our design work, we’ll build a model urban landscape, create dramatic light effects and find out how light is used to keep people safe at night.

At the end of the ILP, we’ll create a sign for our town, thinking about imaginative wording and appealing colours. We’ll invite you to an installation featuring our signs, discuss where they’ll be displayed and why.

Help your child prepare for their project
Take a trip to the city! Why not photograph interesting buildings and make a scrapbook? You could also research urban artists and add your favourite images to your scrapbook. Alternatively, you could visit a churchyard to go gargoyle spotting! Take photographs and try to recreate them at home using modelling materials.