This year DS12 designed hybrid neighbourhoods for three very large and complex north London sites whose futures are being debated: Murphy’s Yard in Kentish Town; the old Homebase store and car park off Finchley Road; and the sites designated for the HS2 railway at Euston. We envisaged alternative social and industrial futures for these places where sustainable technologies and lifestyles could be tried out and tested in what we called ‘Assembly Zones’. Among the questions these places raise is: What kinds of relationships should industry and agriculture have with people’s homes and daily lives in cities? Considering how industry now has to operate within strict environmental controls, isn’t there a case for less zoned and more hybrid city neighbourhoods where industry, housing and nature might interact more?

The studio divided into three groups to look at each site then, following some urban scale design exercises, everyone identified a site within the group masterplans to developed an individual programme. Each project includes different kinds of industries and housing and, while they are all different, relations between them and with the wider neighbourhood are co-ordinated, together forming a collage of interacting projects within a group plan. The final scheme is the result of individual imaginations, group thinking and negotiations with existing infrastructures.

In November we visited Amsterdam and west Germany. Highlights included Van Eyck’s Orphanage and VMX’s Noordbuurt housing in Amsterdam, the Landschaftspark in Duisburg, Bohm’s Pilgimage church at Velber t and the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal.

Tutors

Ben Stringer teaches design and cultural context studies at the University of Westminster. Recently he has been publishing articles about architecture and rurality.

Peter Barber has a practice noted for its social housing and urban design projects, mostly around London. He also teaches design studio at the University of Westminster.

Guest Critics
Pierre d’Avoine, Beth Cullen, Nasser Golzari, Sean Griffiths, Jane McAllister, Laura Nica, Paresh Parmar, Alicia Pivaro,Yara Sharif Rory Sherlock, Andrew Yau