School SOS was founded with the belief that architectural education had become far too expensive in the UK. SOS was also a response to the worsening crises in UK Arts education. The UK Government has removed Art and Design from its ‘core’ subjects at secondary school level and university tuition fees continue to rise prohibitively. As a nomadic school, SOS partners with a network of host institutions, galleries, workshops, schools, libraries, professionals, practitioners, artists, students and researchers.

The founders Pierre Shaw and Kishan San envisioned SOS to become something between an artists’ residency and a fully fledged school of design, allowing students the freedom of space whilst retaining a core of lectures. Beyond the space of the school, SOS brings together multidisciplinary students, practitioners, teachers and artists who work with community to develop new creative practices to improve community and public space and to form a network of like-minded artists and designers.

In 2019, SOS hosted the inaugural summer school SOS_19, aimed to explore the underrepresented effects of digital platforms on our cities. It was co-hosted by three partners: Design Museum, the South London Gallery and Anise Gallery. SOS invited a mix of recent graduates, design practitioners and teachers and academics to deliver a course that balances experience, multiple perspectives, youthful dynamism and radical thought.

Most recently SOS_25 gathered 12 participants with backgrounds in art, design, architecture and related disciplines to participate in the residency program. Over the course of the 6 week residency, one week of group work preceded five weeks of individual work based in and with the communities of the participants. The course includes technical workshops that will give participants time to develop skills in a number of digital mediums. SOS_26 will be another 6 week course, hosted by the Koppel Project, consolidating the previous 7 years of design of research and the contributions of nearly 100 participants.

The School operates in partnerships with practicing designers, artists, students, cultural institutions, donors and sponsors, existing schools and universities. School SOS is a collaboration between the two founders and its host organizations that give the school its nomadic structure.

Pierre Shaw is an Architect and Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, he is currently studying Critical Spatial Practices in his PhD in Architecture at the University for the Creative Arts. Kishan San is a Researcher at Human Rights research agency Forensic Architecture.