As part of Helena's PhD she's been tasked with an investigation into new towns and writing a brief for competition toward creating them.
Although the work was in its early stages the discussions which followed it were interesting
Because I have a distinct interest in sociology topics like new towns and regeneration are particularly appealing to me.
Revelation of the day: the current fashion in housing development is a knee jerk reaction to the modernist Utopian visions of the high density machine like cities. The new ideal has become a detached house with a garden, two cars located in the country with 2.4 children.
P.s If your interested or would like to contribute to her research www.asmallstudio.co.uk is the place to go
Shifting Sands
Other than the fact we got a trip to the seaside the journey to Littlehampton was well worth it. Shifting Sands was an apt conference looking at regeneration of coastal towns fitting in perfectly with the North Sea Faring project.
Speakers included:
- Jim Brathwaite - SEEDA
- John Sorrell - CABE
- David Marks - Marks Barfield
- Thomas Heatherwick
- Wayne Hemmingway - South Coast Design Forum
Because it is impractical to document the entire experience I shall elaborate upon two items that were of real value.
Firstly the work of Heatherwick and Studio Weave was really exciting because we could see how the work we are undertaking in studio can be directly translated into practice.
Secondly there was a movement away from iconographic design within coastal redevelopment. This I found particularly interesting and was able to forward this question to the panel:
" Taking into account the movement away from iconographic design, what will the main driver of successful coastal regeneration be?"
The panel consisted of
- Barry Shaw - Kent Architecture Centre
- Jane Priestman - Design Champion
- Richard McMann - Bognor Regeneration
- John Kilford - West Sussex Design Commission
- Caroline Lwin - Kent County Council
The question they all answered with a general consensus. Iconographic design is a big gamble often more of a faliure than a success. Coastal towns wanted an enhanced sense of place this is to say that the distinct qualities of the town would be celebrated. Icons of a serrandipitous nature had much greater success because they are born of the town rather than imposed upon it.
Colchester Charette
A good project but too little time. I would have enjoyed an extra few days to complete this. But one does get an idea of the intensity of design required for competitions and quick projects.
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