“THE CITY – A SPACE FOR US”
Somers Town – Kings Cross
No matter where, when or how public places and the cities we occupy, make us feel a certain way. In everyday life people talk about places from memory or experience, the way a neighbourhood has changed, what building has gone up or down. We currently live in a world of vast technical innovation and even faster progress, and amidst such urban chaos places change owners and design purpose quickly or simple disappear from the city landscape altogether. This poises the ultimate question of how do we want to live? This thesis project is a response not only of how we want to shape our cities, but is also rooted in an understanding and exploration of the ancient technique of earth construction.
The project is located in the intricate area that is caught between the railway tracks of Euston and St Pancreas station – Somers Town. The site and even the wider area as a whole is once more going through major redevelopment, where its surrounding community is driven to a subtle disengagement from its its neighbouring elitist institution. The project is a response to this current condition of rapid development within the city and the impact this poses on the surrounding community. Within any area of regeneration the community facilities play vital role in the overall development of the area, as such the proposed scheme offers an alternative proposal with the aim of liberating the community spaces from burden of memory. The community centre and its walled gardens aims for the movement of people and things towards the spaces outside, redefining the parameters of public and private. The spatial relationship within the proposed project are about in-betweenness, generosity and an awareness of time.
“(…) the question of what kind of city we want cannot be divorced from the question of what kind of people we want to be, what kinds of social relations we seek, what relations to nature we cherish, what style of life we desire, what aesthetic values we hold.”
– David Harvey