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You might not be familiar with Becontree Estate in east London, but when it was completed nearly 100 years ago, it was the largest council estate in the world. Now, in celebration of is centenary, the Royal Institute of British Architects have teamed up with Create London and London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD) to revamp and redesign 12 neglected and underused corner lots located within the estate. Together, they have announced that Squaring the Corners, a proposal by Nimtim Architects ard artist Katie Schwab, has been selected to revive Becontree’s corner plots.

The first homes in Becontree were built in 1921 and it would take another 14 years for the estate to be completed. Part of the Garden City movement, Becontree was nestled in farmland that was sectioned up and made into plots for individual homes. Life in Becontree offered parks, front and back gardens, and undefined green spaces. In the end, it was home to 120,000 people

Today, Becontree is a richly diverse area, but 12 of its undefined green spaces need of reconsideration. So, as part of LBBD’s long-term strategy for land in the estate, six emerging and mid-career architectural practices were invited to offer their designs for the corner plot commission. The firms asked to participate were selected in part for their own diversity, having Black, Asian, or minority ethnicities represented within their senior management.

Ultimately, Nimtim Architects’ Squaring the Corners prevailed.

Through Squaring the Corners, corner plots are redefined as civic squares. Each civic square consists of a junction of four corner plots that will be classified into four categories: meet, rest, grow, and play. Some civic squares will embody more than one category. Nimtim Architects along with Schwab have designed a new series of routes that will connect the civic squares to pre-existing Becontree amenities “adding a finer layer to enrich the existing masterplan.”

“Each square suggests new activities and performs new functions by inviting residents to take ownership of them,” reads the announcement of Squaring the Corners. “Their designs borrow generously from geometries, colours, and materials within the estate – both in their original and current customised manifestations. With a strong focus on biodiversity, the ambition is to encourage the re-establishment of the original ecosystem of the heath, thus creating a part wild, part intimate public space: much smaller in scale than the large municipal parks, and much more social than the adjacent front gardens.”

Schwab has worked on crafted interiors and textiles at Becontree and will assist in the sourcing of local materials. She will also help integrate Nimtim Architects’ design into Becontree.

Squaring the Corners will get underway in the spring as part of a year-long programme of events, learning, exhibitions, and commissions, both artistic and architectural, to celebrate the milestone for Becontree.

The 3,700-year-old remains of a couple buried together on the Iberian Peninsula in modern day Murcia, Spain, have archaeologist wondering if women held more power in the Early Bronze Age El Argar culture. The remains were entombed in a jar discovered in a hilltop complex called La Almoloya and a report recently published in Antiquity gives an overview of findings that have archaeologist revisiting the role of women in Argaric society.

La Almoloya is significant because it was a prominent place in El Argar society and offers a glimpse into one of the first Bronze Age palaces in Western Europe. The Argaric people thrived between 2200 BC and 1500 BC and lived in a structured and stratified society. Until this discovery, it was believed that the El Argar society structure was patriarchal, like many societies contemporary to it.

In the double burial, the remains of the woman, who died in her 20s, were found on top of those of the male, who died in his 30s. Alongside them were 29 “emblematic” objects, including rings, bracelets and ear plugs of both gold and silver, suggesting the two were of a high class.

The burial was discovered beneath the floor of a grand hall that archaeologists believe could have been used for political purposes in La Almoloya. The room, which was large enough to accommodate as many as 50 people, boasts benches and podium leading to researchers even referring to it as a parliament. “There have been hundreds of El Argar buildings excavated, and this one is unique. It’s quite clearly a building specialized in politics,” Dr. Cristina Rihuete Herrada, one of the archaeologists who discovered the burial and professor of prehistory at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told The New York Times.

Also of particular interest to archaeologist was the fact that the woman was discovered still wearing a silver diadem, a headband-like crown. The impeccably crafted diadem is among only a handful ever found in Argaric society. Diadems, which consist of a thin band with a disc that hangs from the band over the nose, were only worn by women and women of very high status, at that.

Moreover, the age of the woman and the breadth of the grave goods found with her suggest that girls were considered women at an earlier age than boys were men.

The combination of the diadem, the number of grave goods, and the unique placement of the grave beneath the floor of a political room has helped form the hypothesis that the woman found would have held a political role within El Argar society.

Research is ongoing, but according to Rihuete-Herrada, the items found alongside the woman and man suggest they may have each had roles of power within society. The “enforcement of government decisions will be in the hands of men,” said Rihuete-Herrada citing a copper and silver dagger found among the man’s possession. She continued that due to the nature of items found with the woman, researchers now believe that “maybe women were political rulers, but not alone.”

At times, it seemed as though it might not make it, but this month, the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is celebrating its 150^th anniversary. The milestone not only makes the SFAI one of the oldest art schools in the US, but shows its perseverance, despite difficult terrain. So, to commemorate its extra meaningful birthday, the SFAI has announced the inauguration of the Access50 Scholarship Fund to make the terrain less difficult for deserving students.

The Access50 Scholarship Fund is specifically aimed at creating a more diverse body of students attending the school before entering the art world. 50 students from underserved backgrounds will be selected for the Access50 Scholarship and will receive support for the cost of tuition, which adds up to more than $45,000 per year.

Students enrolling in the autumn, for the 2021-2022 academic year, will be the first eligible for the Access50 Scholarship. The scholarship has the ability to benefit a wide cross section of SFAI students as new incoming students, transfer students, veterans, formerly incarcerated, and MA/MFA, among others, are eligible to apply. The scholarship can also be used for any degree programme offered at the school.

In support of the new scholarship fund, the SFAI received an initial donation from founder and CEO of The RealReal, Julie Wainwright. To kickstart the fund, the institution plans to raise $8 million to $10 million. Overtime, the SFAI plans to grow that fund to at least $50 million to maintain and grow the scholarship in the future.

“As a former SFAI student myself,” Lonnie Graham, who recently became the SFAI Board Chair, said in a press release, “I know how important it is for a young person who has something to say as an artist to have access to an environment like SFAI – a place where you can share ideas with an incredible faculty and student body who understand you. A place to learn how to cultivate new ideas and innovate. A place to actually understand all of the choices available to you. But what happens to all of that potential if you can’t get in the door?” Graham went on to thank Wainwright for her lead gift, echoing a statement from former SFAI Board Chair Pam Rorke Levy.

“The San Francisco Art Institute uniquely provides an environment where soulful creativity thrives,” Wainwright said. “One internet search of notable SFAI graduates confirms this. I helped fund these scholarships there because I firmly believe in art and artists as positive change agents. The launch of Access50 provides new opportunities for a more diverse student body to create and thrive.”

The lack of diversity within the arts has been a major flashpoint in recent years, but it is an issue that is not easy to remedy. It takes earnest change in all levels of the art world to bring about better representation. So, hopefully, SFAI’s Access50 Scholarship Fund will be part of the lasting change needed to create a better art world.