Latest Shape collaboration: Chris Laing was the recipient of the Adam Reynolds Award in 2024.

Find out more about the ARA Check out all Artist Profiles

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Artist Statement: Chris Laing is an Architectural Designer, Activist, and Consultant, and the founder of Signstrokes and Deaf Architecture Front. He is keen to facilitate engagement between the Deaf community and the spatial and architecture practice industry, hoping to see greater opportunities for the field of architecture to benefit from Deaf peoples’ perspective in the near future.

Chris joined Haworth Tompkins in 2017 and became a Part 2 Architectural Assistant. He studied Architecture at Kingston University and Interior Architecture and Design at UCA. He completed his MA at the Royal College of Art for his Part 2, where he was nominated for the Spatial Justice Award for his Thesis Project in 2021. His research interests include DeafSpace and how to build bridges between Deafness and Architecture.

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Banner Image: Chris Laing, Director, Samuel Ash, Filmmaker, and Hermon Berhane, Actor, on set for Chris' Shape-supported project, Silent Buttons (working title), 2024. Credit: Elinor Hayes.

Description: A photograph of filming taking place in a brightly lit office environment. Samuel Ash, the filmmaker, stands to the left of shot, besides his professional camera, as he signs to Chris, the director, who stands centre frame holding a clapper board. Behind them both, on the right, Hermon stands ready to proceed once 'action' has been called.