Newham

After another day attempting to gain access to the Millenium Mills site for my studio project (another failed attempt) I decided to see what else was in the local area. I came across a few interesting places, including a community run allotment, Newham City Farm & Beckton District Park

On the north side of the Royal Victoria Dock yet another large office or hotel complex is quickly being erected. The curving shape of the building (I can assume to mimic the surrounding water) is becoming a bit of a cliche, you see it now with a large amount of new builds near to water. The whole area is under constant redevelopment, which will continue for several years, it is not surprising most of it is very corporate due to its proximity to London City Airport & Canary Wharf. Hopefully once the buildings are up then someone will do something about the landscape, which at the moment is very dull & uninspiring.

On the way to Beckton District Park, I stumbled upon this small community allotment. The area was enclosed by a steel fence & locked gate, but there were a couple of men in there who let me in. Originally a bare plot of land, one of the locals took it upon themselves to turn the wasted land into an allotment available for people in the local area.

Dotted around the allotment were these old mannequins, which added a very individual, perhaps slightly spooky element. I did not ask, but assumed these were partly decorative & partly as a deterent to birds & other animals.

Home-made bird deterents made out of household waste items such as tins, plastic bottles, transformed into shapes that allows wind to blow through them & cause movement.

Newham City Farm is one of London's longest running city farms, opening in 1977. The farm offers educational & leisure activities for the whole community, & visitors to the area. Over the years the farm has expanded, gaining many species of animals, including a shire horse, goats, pigs, cows, ducks & many more. Another expansion was the addition of a Visitors Centre; an existing park building that was no longer used has now been converted into the centre which provides classroom facilities & a display room. The farm continues to grow, with developments of new paddocks taking place when I visited.

An interesting steel bull is in the middle of the central paddock

This City Farm is the best I have visited. The whole concept of city farms is a reasonably new one to me, having only visited them this year, however I think they are a great way for children & adults to enjoy aspects of nature & wildlife that typically they cannot in the city environment. All of the ones I have visited, including; Vauxhall, Spitalfields, Newham & Hackney, have all been busy even during the week, showing that they are a very utilised & enjoyed feature within their areas, attracting more than just nearby residents.

This photo (above) shows the lake in Beckton District Park; the third year studio project site of another landscape architect on my course.

East is East

The second London day out was concentrating on installations, art & design within the East of London, starting at Moorgate tube station, & ending at Gillett Square in Dalston, Hackney. The images below show the things we came across throughout the day:

This is the Fulcrum, a corten steel sculpture, designed by Richard Serra. The designer was given a task of creating a sculpture to fit into the small space which is Octagon Square, Serra decided to design upwards in order to make something striking & imposing without taking up too much space.

Broadgate circle is this circular space, mainly used for events throughout the year. The programme of events is called the Broadgate Arena, one of the most popular events being the ice rink that is set up in the circle from october through the winter months.

Finsbury Avenue Square was refurbished by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, turning it into a sophisticated public square in the heart of Broadgate. The square's most striking feature is its grid patterned, interactive lighting. The lights bring the square to life at night, & it becomes a very popular destination.

This was a casting of old London displayed in Bishop's Square. Bishop's Square is just to the west of Spitalfields Market, & is considered part of the Spitalfields area.

Water feature in Bishop's Square

Art installation in Bishop's Square; "I'm late, I'm late, I'm very, very late!!", the rabbits were designed by Paul Cox with history of the area in mind. Spitalfields was originally a grazing area for cattle, (hence 'field' in the name), the sculpture is also meant to represent the people who live & work in the East of London, who like rabbits stay in close knit communities. The rabbits are moveable, so have popped up in lots of different locations within the Spitalfields complex. They're a happy installations, which brings a smile to your face & adds a light hearted touch to what is normally quite a business orientated, busy area.

Whilst walking through Brick Lane I saw several pieces of graffiti that really stood out to me. The one above I particularly like, it is a really beautiful piece of artwork. After some research I discovered it's by a renowned Belgian street artist Roa. Roa has painted several creatures (always animals) around the Brick Lane/Spitalfields area. I particularly like this one as I think herons are amazing birds (Roa's original intention was to paint a heron, but then told it looked like a crane...so slightly altered it to look more like a crane, although I still think it looks very heron like), and the style it has been done in reminds me a lot of the works of Thomas Hooper, a world renowned tattoo artist whos work I hugely admire.

This graffiti caught my eye because it is actually very unattractive, but because of this it is very striking.

View from Spitalfields City Farm across to the city

We stopped in at Hackney City Farm. This farm has been open for 20 years, allowing children & adults the opportunity to get close to farm animals & wildlife in the heart of the city. The farm seemed very opular, even on a wednesday when we visited there was a large amount of people coming in & out.

Along the Regent's canal there was a series of these mirrored mosaics. Although many of them were old, damaged & graffited they really lit up the unattractive walls in which they were set.

The final stop was Gillett Square in Dalston. I have seen photos & read about this newly redeveloped square, & have always been interested to see it.... on arrival I was very disappointed. All it was was a grey paved area with two benches, one handrail & very little else. It was very uninspiring considering it was one of the first to be completed of the "100 Public Spaces programme" in London. The only striking & attractive feature was this old shipping container which has been covered in mirrors.

Bringing the Countryside to the City; City Farms & Community Gardens

For the few of us that did not go to Stockholm we took a wander around some interesting sustainable/green/community led projects around the Vauxhall area of London. The first stop was Vauxhall City Farm (click to access website); within this hugely urban area you suddenly come across this city farm. The farm invites anyone to explore, and is host to an array of animals (including a paddock offering riding lessons), a community garden, duck pond & much more. The farm is totally sustainable, for example the community garden produces certain plants & vegetables that produce natural dyes, which are then used by the spinning group. The farm is 100% volunteer run & they are always looking for new people to join them.

City Farms such as this one are invaluable to the local communities, without access to the activities & experiences the farm offers some children growing up in the city would never get to experience this kind of lifestyle. The farms enable families living in the city that may not be able to afford regular visits to the countryside a place to enjoy the animals & feel like they have got away from the hard urban landscape. There are several others in London, including Hackney City Farm.


Later in the day we visited Bonnington Square. Bonnington Square is home to a community garden, the follwoing description is taken from the 'Bonnington Square Garden Association' website:

"The site in which the Pleasure Garden now stands was the result of WW2 bomb damage. In the 1970's the Council erected a couple of swings and seats but then didn't maintain them and seemed to forget the site even existed! Without maintenance the park fell into disrepair; dominated by stinging nettles and dog mess. In 1990 a builder working in the area applied to the Council to use the site as storage, which both alerted the council to the fact that they owned valuable 'idle land' and the Residents to the fact that the land could be sold for development. The Bonnington Square Garden Association was formed by Local Residents to lay claim to the "wasteland". Thus after prolonged negotiations with the powers that be money became available from a joint Government and Local Council scheme and construction began in August 1994 transforming the land into a little slice of paradise that now beholds you - 'The Pleasure Garden'. The Garden is, of course partly in homage to the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens which existed 100m to the north of here and were a major feature of London for three centuries; a place of curiosity, promenade and play. The garden, surprisingly perhaps was designed ‘by Committee’ - several local residents and an Architectural firm. The intention was to create a gentle and beautiful slice of nature that could serve all sides of the community. A delightful play space for the kids and something of a sanctuary from the big city storm for the adults. It is one of the beating ‘hearts’ of our community and a place of pilgrimage for many more."

The garden is open to anyone to enjoy, and the residents are more than happy to discuss the development & maintenance of the garden. After completing the garden the association decided to extend the gardens philosophy by leaving the confines of the garden's hedges & spreading the planting out into the streets. They have pulled up paving slabs & planted tropical trees & plants. They believe the more they can plant the better, using every available space, improving inner city life by surrounding it with nature.