Next Project

Destination: Living Landscape

Part 2 Project 2001
Pippa Gueterbock
David Syn Chee Mah
London Metropolitan University | UK
The proposal is for a linear park composed of freely programmed, independently landscaped strips arranged above a new rail-connected recycling centre and waste transfer depot. The continuous landscape links a chain of open spaces and connects, via the new Arsenal Stadium, to Alexandra Palace. The strips compliment the dramatic and tranquil majesty of the existing railscapes and host a range of events, vegetation, and links to the station below and its movements of materials. The rail infrastructure is also exploited in a Mini Goods Depot through which producers (from European farmers to supermarkets) can import goods to be distributed locally and directly to customers.

The park slices through the ‘Community Depot’, an existing warehouse adapted to provide access to spatial and knowledge-based resources. This supports a local grey economy whose currency is the skills and know-how that exist within the community. This building is linked to Mini Goods Depot.

A prototype for the programming of the park’s ‘open use’ strips was tested through 'Reclaim the Beach', a model for the 'bottom-up' generation of events which created a network of users through the use of a web site, a chosen venue (Festival Hall Beach) and media coverage. It is a structure that produces public space through public interaction.

Pippa Gueterbock
David Syn Chee Mah


This student's portfolio was chosen because it represented an absolute commitment to architecture not only as a student, but also as an active agent, engaging and improving elements of the ‘real’ world.

The student's projects are tested and assimilated through the use of live events and political interventions as much as by modelling and representation. Indeed, in many ways the staged events, such as the ‘Reclaim the Beach’ exercises, which continue to attract the attention of the national media, can be considered a 1:1 testing.

The student's project for the Holloway (Lough Road) Waste Transfer Site, a necessary spin-off from resiting the Arsenal Stadium, realised a depth of understanding for the possibilities of the site that exceeded those of Arsenal’s planning and transport consultants. This became plainly evident at a live feedback session attended by senior members of Arsenal’s team.

This student's proposals would not only vastly improve the environmental aspects of the (given) waste transfer site, but also provide a new and engaging set of landscapes reflecting a new range of lifestyles. Her proposals are currently being pursued with a range of agencies including the Strategic Rail Authority, The Rail Freight Group, the University of North London and the London Borough of Islington.

2001
• Page Hits: 3245         • Entry Date: 24 September 2001         • Last Update: 24 September 2001