Urban Park | A new way of living

THE BARTLETT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE U N I V E R S I T Y CO L L E G E LO N D O N ARCHITEC TURE AND HISTORIC URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Urban Park A new way of living

U R B A N PA R K A N e w Wa y o f L i v i n g

The proposal looks to change the isolated and neglected housing area of Somers Town located between Euston Road, St Pancras and Euston Station into an island of attraction. An urban park is inserted, shaped by a continuous but penetrable circular band: A boundary where some things end and others are helped to begin; Where different groups meet and interact; A home for creativity. Architecture is the medium, in which the desires of the inhabitants are fulfilled.

Three kinds of inhabitants co-exist: the visitors that pass by; members of the community directly involved in the activities; and the temporary residents of the collective neighbourhood.

The new building hosts programs in layers which change vertically from public at ground to semi-public interactive activities, to private and ascetic living, respectively.

Thomais Kordonouri Iason Ntounis

Super visor: Hannah Corlett

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Somers Town.

The big masses protect the island from its enemies.

The residents have a peaceful routine far from the noise of the metropolis. They only visit it when commuting to work. Every day they go to work or to school and then they go home. The activities in Somers Town are limited, the creative spaces are meagre. The island creates loneliness and alienation. It’s been a long time since visitors came, as only a few neighbors remember the island’s existence.

Fig. 01: Map of the Area

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In terms of flows and connections, there are only two perimeter roads crossing the area and connecting the north section (Camden Town) with the south section (Euston Road), while the other roads within Somers Town are dead ends.

Fig. 02: Road Network Diagram

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Tide.

The housing area of Somers Town island is now being flooded. An outburst occurs.

Now nature emerges through the tide around us: Bunches of trees and flowers collide with the urban environment and re-organize the public space. A bridge surrounds them.

The hidden desires will be unveiled and placed upon it and the whole island has now become a park with a promenade and elements that coexist with the housing area. People can visit this new heterotopia and experience the sense of openness and isolation at the same time.

The island acquires extroversion.

Fig. 03: Plan of the Intervention

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Fig. 01: Fig. 04:Image Intervention’s Label Image Exploded SourcingAxonometric

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The Proposal The existing open spaces inside the circle, looked inert as the public spaces are isolated from the surrounding areas and the semi-public courtyards seem to not be in use except as parking areas for the residents. Now, thewhole unbuilt environment is transformed into the new garden.

The strip is not a huge mass that Euston and Kings Cross stations are, but a permeable circular barrier that connects the island with all the neighbor areas. It is meant to become a transition space between the surrounding areas. It seeks to create private and public fantasies, to invent new forms of behaviour.

Fig. 05: Axonometric of the Intervention with programs

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On top of the strip and underneath, programs are organized in layers of public, semi-public and private.

Places for artists, workshops, exhibition spaces, libraries, thinking and isolation spaces, thermal baths, sanctuaries, sport facilities and housing, will now be accessible as open and closed spaces.

The visitors can either be temporary, or members of the community that are directly involved in the activities, different groups of people that interact.

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In the strip many different qualities are created, sometimes at ground level and sometimes above or below it, sometimes more isolated and sometimes completely open. The new building hosts programs in layers which change vertically from public at ground to semi- public interactive activities, to private and ascetic living, respectively.

Fig. 06: View of the Intervention 1

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The park, with its sparse and dense planting, represents the natural environment, a garden that artificially exists in the city. In this garden one can wander, get lost, discover, escape from the city, find places of different and unusual quali;es that will make him escape the thoughts of reality and wander in his dreams.

Fig. 07: View of the Intervention 2

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As mentioned, the new building will be a continuous circular strip interrupted by some landmarks. One of them is the enclosed tropical garden.

Also, the rest of the building is composed in vertical layers. Its ground level is completely open and invites people, whereas the first floor has enclosed but transparent and bright spaces and above there are more isolated and enclosed spaces.

Fig. 08: View of the Intervention 3

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In the ground level the visitors see the colonized promenade. There are two options: they can either cross the strip and get into the park directly or walk along the strip, experience the different qualities and then decide to get in the park or get out again to the rest of the city. As people walk, a lot of things are always happening above them. So, in order to capture their attention and to invite them upstairs, these things are shown on the ground level in different ways.

Here, the visitors enjoy the paintings and work of arts that are exposed to the public. Most probably an art workshop awaits them above.

Fig. 09: View of the Intervention (On the Colonised Promenade I)

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At the middle level there are open spaces for work and study, workshops, spaces for gatherings and interaction, kitchens and bathrooms. Since the architecture of these spaces attempts to produce multiple experiences for the users, sometimes the floor is flat and other times the floor introduces an artificial landscape. So, someone can sit and read a book by the windows watching the trees or the intense city rhythms. There are places for complete public interaction, and other that promote lonely thinking.

Fig. 10: View of the Intervention (Inside a Common Space)

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The mostly isolated spaces lie in the upper level. These are the spaces that promote self-awareness and ascetic living. They can be also used as the temporary residency for some inhabitants.

Fig. 11: View of an interior space

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This is another point of the promenade. The presence of water symbolizes the thermal baths above.

Fig. 12: View of the Intervention (On the Colonised Promenade II)

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Public Library By approaching the library, an unexpected obstacle will appear in the eye-level. The library has sunk and invites visitors under it to gather. The building above embraces the gathering space.

Fig. 13: Section of the Intervention (Public Library)

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Enclosed Tropical Garden As visitors pass by, they see a concrete door, which is the entrance of a conservatory. Suddenly the concrete becomes a glass house with wild nature. If the visitor want to isolate more, they can go in the sanctuary space and/or go up to enjoy the view.

Fig. 14: Section of the Intervention (Enclosed Tropical Garden)

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Amphitheatres Since the world is artificial, so is the nature, which is here enclosed as an amphitheatre. In addition, a typical amphitheatre is placed outdoors.

Fig. 15: Section of the Intervention (Artificial Nature Inside an Amphitheatre, and the Amphitheatre)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allies and Morrison. “Euston Area Plan: Historical Area Assessment.” Last modified June 2013. Accessed January 2, 2020. p.1-168 h t t p s : // w w w . e u s t o n a r e a p l a n . i n f o / w p - c o n t e n t / u p loads/2012/09/827_130624_Euston-Historic-Assessment_Final-Report_email.pdf British Railways (London Midland Region). The New Euston Station 1968. Great Britain: British Railways (London Midland Region), 1968. http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BRLM_Euston1968. pdf Denford, Steven., and Woodford, Peter F., ed. Streets of St Pancras: Somers Town and the Railway Lands. London: Camden History Society, 2002.

Eco, Umberto, The Open Work, transl. by Anna Canogni, intr. by David Robey, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusettes, 1989 Grimshaw Architects. “HS2 Euston Station, London UK.” Accessed January 2, 2020. https://grimshaw.global/projects/hs2-euston-station/ High Speed 2 LTD. “Why HS2.” Accessed January 2, 2020. https:// www.hs2.org.uk/why/.

Sennett, Richard, The Open City, https://www.richardsennett.com/ site/senn/UploadedResources/The%20Open%20City.pdf

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TA B L E O F I M A G E S

Cover. Top View of the intervention, made by the authors Figure 1. Map of the Area, made by the authors Figure 2. Road Network Diagram, made by the authors Figure 3. Plan of the Intervention, made by the authors Figure 4. Intervention’s Exploded Axonometric, made by the authors Figure 5. Axonometric of the Intervention with programs, made by the authors Figure 6. View of the Intervention 1, made by the authors Figure 7. View of the Intervention 2, made by the authors Figure 8. View of the Intervention 3, made by the authors Figure 9. View of the Intervention (On the Colonised Promenade I), made by the authors Figure 10. View of the Intervention (Inside a Common Space), made by the authors Figure 11. View of an interior space, made by the authors Figure 12. View of the Intervention (On the Colonised Promenade II), made by the authors Figure 13. Section of the Intervention (Public Library), made by the authors Figure 14. Section of the Intervention (Enclosed Tropical Garden), made by the authors Figure 15. Section of the Intervention (Artificial Nature Inside an Amphitheater, and the Amphitheater), made by the authors

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