CV & Selected Projects (2012/13)

The following shows a selection of projects from the last 3 years of University & work.

 

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.

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.

Ethelburga Estate, Battersea

The afternoon part of our London day out took us to Ethelburga Estate. This "estate" lies just to the west of Battersea Park (10metres across Albert Bridge Road), & is a housing estate comprised of both privately owned (90%) & council owned (10%) flats. The estate is considered "dangerous" & "unaproachable" by outsiders, who take much longer detours around the estate to access Battersea Bridge Road. Some of the residents have come together & created an estate action group. Their aim is to improve the aesthetics of the estate to benefit both the residents & the people who avoid the estate currently. They have been offered a £20,000 budget from the local council (Wandsworth) to do so. However, in order to get this money they have to have a certain (& very high) percentage of the residents approval & backing. This has proved much harder than expected. With a lot of residents being tenants & having no financial roots in the estate, they fear that improvements to the area will in turn increase the cost of their rent & so are dubious to support the action. Without a certain proportion of the residents support, no development will take place.

When we visited we met Peter & Peter! These two men have been residents in Ethelburga estate for some years & are very keen to see change. They do not like the stereotype that has been made of the estate, by it being called an "estate", by the old fashioned, 60's appearance, & by the general unattractive buildings & landscape. They took us for a tour around the estate (which is not very big, encircling the estate took 15 mins), there is little in the way of attractive landscaping or design, rubbish bins are a huge eye-sore, there are large areas of concrete with no purposes, & very little soft landscaping. Back in the community centre we all got together & brainstormed some ideas of how we feel the estate could be improved. There were four categories: security & community, play & creativity (art), movement (& transport), & green infrastructure. The following images show these sheets with all our ideas: