SIMONE PAMIO
A-TTEN(S)ION SEEKER
Brick Lane is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. Since the late 1990s, Brick Lane has been the site of several of the city’s best known night clubs, built on the site of The Old Truman Brewery, once the industrial centre of the area, and now an office and entertainment complex. More recently the area has also broadened to being a vibrant art and fashion student area, with considerable exhibition space. Today, it is the heart of the country’s Bangladeshi community and is known to some as Banglatown.
The continuous straight axis of Brick Lane reaches a breaking point where the upper and lower-level railways meet. The result is a unique fragment of Brick Lane that suddenly opens up and is no longer confined from the built residential complexes. The area is also connected to the Bishopsgate Goodsyard, an abandoned area where an approved future redevelopment will soon happen.
The first phase of the project will focus on the redevelopment of the Cut, which is now being used as a circulation space for both people and vehicles. During market days, stalls and performers occupy the space creating a very chaotic and overcrowded environment. Because of this, there is no possibility for people to stop by and interact with each other. The congestion of people does not allow people to slow down and appreciate the context they are in. Part of the development will happen alongside the new masterplan, focusing on the access between the street and the Goodsyard and in the way people access and interact with the top part of the Goodsyard.
It was clear since the beginning of the site investigation that there was a need to slow things down. The abandoned Goodsyard presented a lot of interesting remnants of the old Bishopsgate station that people seemed to overlook while experiencing the Lane. The past must be appreciated and taken into account when designing the future of a place. The first part of the project thus seeks to create a new walkway which has three objectives in mind: create a level change where people can see and appreciate the historical structure of the Old Station, introducing a new circulation journey that deliberately makes people slow down and finally, develop an awareness of the surroundings to strengthen the identification of the Genius Loci.
The second part of the project will focus on the re-establishment of the top part of the Goodsyard which at the moment consists of an abandoned roof with ubiquitous wild flora.
The new masterplan strategy for the space is a park with a straight axis circulation but which lacks in offering something more playful and dynamic to the area. The project will make use of the large soil excavation of the masterplan housing complexes to create a brand-new natural landscaping on top of the Goodsyard old structure. Moreover, an Urban Garden Centre, planned to sit on top of the new landscape, will be designed for the benefit of the local community by providing
them with a supply of fresh-made food that they can grow themselves thanks to vertical farming. The building will also cooperate with the numerous restaurants and the market in Brick Lane by supplying food and taking leftovers from them to produce composting.
The landscape of the top floor is designed as to be “a room to get lost”. It interacts with the Urban Garden Centre and the surroundings and in doing so, the visitors will find themselves in a continuous journey made of different spatial experiences and thresholds to cross. Compared to the masterplan proposal, the new help the visitors to evade from the crowdy and busy city life. The journey plays a crucial role on this matter, as the space-time experience of the journey is the means necessary to explore the area by entering new realms but be constantly reminded of the context people are in.
The coexisting tension between the street, the new redevelopment and the top part of the Goodsyard is what is going to enrich the spatial experience of Brick Lane. This is achieved by playing with opposites and creating contrasts. From the rush of the street to the slow long path to the top floor. From the small scale of Brick Lane to the big one of the new redevelopments. From the flat surface of the area to the sinuous landscape. From appreciation of the past to the inevitable future of the high-rise buildings.
A-TTEN(S)ION SEEKER
Brick Lane is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. Since the late 1990s, Brick Lane has been the site of several of the city’s best known night clubs, built on the site of The Old Truman Brewery, once the industrial centre of the area, and now an office and entertainment complex. More recently the area has also broadened to being a vibrant art and fashion student area, with considerable exhibition space. Today, it is the heart of the country’s Bangladeshi community and is known to some as Banglatown.
The continuous straight axis of Brick Lane reaches a breaking point where the upper and lower-level railways meet. The result is a unique fragment of Brick Lane that suddenly opens up and is no longer confined from the built residential complexes. The area is also connected to the Bishopsgate Goodsyard, an abandoned area where an approved future redevelopment will soon happen.
The first phase of the project will focus on the redevelopment of the Cut, which is now being used as a circulation space for both people and vehicles. During market days, stalls and performers occupy the space creating a very chaotic and overcrowded environment. Because of this, there is no possibility for people to stop by and interact with each other. The congestion of people does not allow people to slow down and appreciate the context they are in. Part of the development will happen alongside the new masterplan, focusing on the access between the street and the Goodsyard and in the way people access and interact with the top part of the Goodsyard.
It was clear since the beginning of the site investigation that there was a need to slow things down. The abandoned Goodsyard presented a lot of interesting remnants of the old Bishopsgate station that people seemed to overlook while experiencing the Lane. The past must be appreciated and taken into account when designing the future of a place. The first part of the project thus seeks to create a new walkway which has three objectives in mind: create a level change where people can see and appreciate the historical structure of the Old Station, introducing a new circulation journey that deliberately makes people slow down and finally, develop an awareness of the surroundings to strengthen the identification of the Genius Loci.
The second part of the project will focus on the re-establishment of the top part of the Goodsyard which at the moment consists of an abandoned roof with ubiquitous wild flora.
The new masterplan strategy for the space is a park with a straight axis circulation but which lacks in offering something more playful and dynamic to the area. The project will make use of the large soil excavation of the masterplan housing complexes to create a brand-new natural landscaping on top of the Goodsyard old structure. Moreover, an Urban Garden Centre, planned to sit on top of the new landscape, will be designed for the benefit of the local community by providing
them with a supply of fresh-made food that they can grow themselves thanks to vertical farming. The building will also cooperate with the numerous restaurants and the market in Brick Lane by supplying food and taking leftovers from them to produce composting.
The landscape of the top floor is designed as to be “a room to get lost”. It interacts with the Urban Garden Centre and the surroundings and in doing so, the visitors will find themselves in a continuous journey made of different spatial experiences and thresholds to cross. Compared to the masterplan proposal, the new help the visitors to evade from the crowdy and busy city life. The journey plays a crucial role on this matter, as the space-time experience of the journey is the means necessary to explore the area by entering new realms but be constantly reminded of the context people are in.
The coexisting tension between the street, the new redevelopment and the top part of the Goodsyard is what is going to enrich the spatial experience of Brick Lane. This is achieved by playing with opposites and creating contrasts. From the rush of the street to the slow long path to the top floor. From the small scale of Brick Lane to the big one of the new redevelopments. From the flat surface of the area to the sinuous landscape. From appreciation of the past to the inevitable future of the high-rise buildings.
