Making architecture and creative professions accessible for everyone
The Cross Pollinator Project is an architecture-led multidisciplinary educational workshop for high school students to early year professionals that aims to expose students to creative professions while offering support with professional development. Key to the workshop are portfolio reviews, portfolio development, presentations, networking sessions and essential skills to help them advance in their career. As we aim to inspire students to become the next generation of change, we want them to gain an understanding of how they can make a positive impact in their community with creativity at various scales from small inanimate objects to economies, social movements, culture, identity, and society.
What are our objectives?
• Inspiring students to become architects and creative professionals
• Giving them confidence to pursue and succeed in creative careers by exposing
them to creative industries
• Giving them knowledge and skills that help them advance in their career path
• Connecting students with professional practices for work experience
• Creating an environment that is engaging and inspiring while offering a unique experience to think differently
Who is it for?
This is open to high school students, university students, early year professionals, and creative practitioners. With interests in, but not limited to, architecture, art, graphic design, illustration, innovation, fashion, and photography.
Why multidisciplinary?
Centered around the portfolio reviews is creative feedback from different professions to help foster new ideas and collaborations. As creative individuals, we each have a unique insight that is valuable and applied in different ways. We feel if you gain the same feedback from the same profession, you will produce the same work. We want individuals who attend our workshop to think differently and create change.
What are we changing?
Creative pathways are not always seen as viable career options and work needs to be done to give students the skills and confidence to pursue these routes. With more accessibility and exposure to the architecture and the creative professions, students can have the confidence to succeed in understanding how creativity can create change.
Who we are
We are an evolving team of creative professionals aiming to support the young creative community. While our core team includes architecture, art, graphic design and, photography our backgrounds and experience range widely from advertising, illustration, film, architecture, innovation, teaching, photo documentary, women in architecture, apprenticeship programs, play, gallery owners and much more. It is organized and led by Artificial Kreativity.
Our story
When Artificial Kreativity launched the Cross Pollinator Project we set out to level the playing field for students from all backgrounds and schools-private and public-to gain exposure to the architecture profession. Now, with its multidisciplinary experience we aim at making architecture and creative professions accessible to everyone. It's not just architecture that needs exposure but creative professions as well.
This is based on our founder, Rafael Portillo's, experience of interviewing candidates for Cornell University’s architecture school in New York. After 10 years of meeting many international applicants and reviewing their portfolios, he wanted to support the young creative community by exposing them to architecture and helping them develop their careers. In 2022 the Cross Pollinator Project was launched at the London Festival of Architecture and is currently reaching out to a global community of architects and creatives to inspire individuals to be the next generation of change.
What others say
“I’ve seen how the Cross Pollinator Project has supported young people begin their journey into higher education or working in the architectural and creative industries. It’s been wonderful to work with Artificial Kreativity and see firsthand one of the workshops they do through the project, which was well run and buzzing with positive energy. The Cross Pollinator Project successfully brought together design professionals and young people to exchange knowledge and advice, through talks and portfolio reviews. I look forward to working with Artificial Kreativity again."
~Wilson Yau. Learning Officer, Zaha Hadid Foundation
"It was what attracted me to the portfolio review in the first place. You can get tunnel vision with a craft-based, and focus only on the material and its processes. This helped broaden the vision - so I can think more productively about which strands of work to develop next."~ŁDF 2023 particiapnt
"The presentation delivered by the review panel was truly inspiring, as each member showcased their unique ways of expressing passion and thinking. I was also inspired by the reviewers themselves. They both showed diverse approaches in their feedback and guidance."
~LFA 2023 particiapnt
"This approach proved useful to me because I firmly believe that seeking input from individuals with diverse creative backgrounds results in a broader range of knowledge and ideas"
~LFA 2023 participant"
"The event was incredible and I'm excited to see more events from your organisation in the future."~LFA 2023 participant"
Support Us
We aim to make each Cross Pollinator event accessible to everyone at festivals and not charge admission fees. If you would like to contribute to offset the costs, please click on the button below. Ther are many ways you can support us!
Partner with us
If you are part of a global creative community, an organization, or an individual interested in exposing students to architecture and creative professions, we would love to hear from you. Click on the button below to send us an email telling us about yourself or your oganization.