Cardiff Kids Xmas Lights
The Cardiff Kids Xmas Lights project illuminates Cardiff's Canal Quarter with the Christmas lighting designs of primary school children during the festive period.
The project, co-produced by the team from the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA) and Cardiff Council, is inspired by the Soho Kids Xmas Lights founded in Soho, London by Antonio Capelao in 2021 and informed by Dr Guirnaldos Diaz 's research expertise on post-industrial heritage. Both projects trace their original inspiration to creative work of primary school pupils in Newburgh, Scotland.
The showcase of eight designs by pupils at St Cuthbert's Primary School in Butetown are inspired by their local area and will be revealed at an inaugural switch on event on Thursday 14 November.
We’re so excited to finally bring the Xmas Lights project to Cardiff this year. The initiative is really all about inspiring a sense of ownership and creative involvement in shaping the city’s legacy among these school children.This year, we’ve taken the themes of light, identity of place and migration as our focus, working together with our amazing project partners to help the children develop and design Christmas lights inspired by their local area.
Over a series of design workshops led by the project’s co-producers Mr Capelao and Dr Diaz , the children researched the Butetown area where their school is located, and the Canal Quarter where the Christmas lights will be exhibited.
The pupils were introduced to the meaning of the built environment on a field visit to the city’s old Dock Feeder canal and the new Canal Quarter, where they learned about the industrial history of Cardiff and the role of migration in shaping its urban fabric.
The project highlights the significance of Cardiff's built heritage and how it relates to people from different origins and cultures. On their journeys from the school to the Canal Quarter, the children searched for the hidden traces of Cardiff's industrial past using the simple tools that architects have always employed to understand the environment in which we live: walking and sketching.
More than 120 school pupils used their investigations to develop designs responding to the themes of lighting, identity of place and migration, drawing on aspects of their local and personal identities.
The children’s designs were judged by a committee of architects, academics, lighting specialists, members of Cardiff Council and Cardiff Youth Council, and the Headteacher at St Cuthbert's Primary School.
The Cardiff Kids Xmas Lights project is sponsored by Floodlighting & Electrical Ltd and Child Friendly Cardiff, with support from the Welsh School of Architecture, Architecture for Kids CIC, Atkins Realis, St Cuthbert's Primary School, University College London, Cardiff Commitment, Cardiff Curriculum, the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, Design Circle, For Cardiff and Visit Cardiff.
About the organiser
This activity is organised by the Welsh School of Architecture. Contact Antonio Capelao and Dr Melina Guirnaldos Diaz for more details.