Hackney Wick is one of London’s most upcoming districts.
Growing out of the post-industrial landscape of east London’s
Lower Lea Valley and at the edge of the Olympic Park, Hackney Wick it is defined by workshops,
factories, start-ups, shabby bars and warehouse breweries
and in the next 20 years has been earmarked as a major new hub for working and living. Over
the past two decades, Hackney
Wick has developed into one of London’s most creative areas, with artists, designers
and makers occupying what had
become semi-derelict factory space.
In 2014 amongst this landscape of change we launched ’10 Estates’ -
the first major exhibition of our projects conceived. and launched for the London Festival of
Architecture. Featuring 10 live projects then underway with local
authorities across London, the simple temporary
exhibition and with a
raw aesthetic reflecting its industrial setting explored the
extent of new public housing at the city fringe and championed the role of
London’s boroughs in ushering in new standards of design and ambition.
Regeneration of London’s worn out estates is a complexed
process. With changing funding structures, different tenures and carefully
considered decant and phasing programmes required
there are significant limitations which pose enormous difficulties. It is no
surprise therefore that many housing projects have historically
stalled for years as residents and local
politicians veto unpopular and undeliverable schemes and in the process design in
the past has been given a low
priority.
For Karakusevic Carson, 2014 was an exciting moment as we shared
new projects that exemplified the new relationship between local residents, boroughs
and a responsive architecture and
client teams that we had been part of part of developing
over 10 years.
Exhibition 1 – 30 June 2014