Make, Don't Make Do: London, UK 2012

摘要

Make, Don't Make Do is an ongoing research project exploring how more people can have a hands-on role in changes to their surrounding built environment. The first volume is a study focusing on the area directly surrounding Stratford High Street: an area riven by a web of infrastructures and characterized by its long history at the heart of London's industry. It is an area undergoing rapid physical and economic change, with outgoing industrial uses being replaced by residential buildings and communities. A rapidly increasing number of residents are living in an area that does not yet have the necessary social infrastructure to support them, and the place-making role of diverse industry and manufacture is increasingly marginalized. Studying the history of the area in this document, we highlight the ongoing relationship between large-scale development and the opportunistic uses of its by-products. Learning from this, we propose a range of measures to take advantage of the possibilities of current phases of development. From small additions or alterations to longer term strategic changes, Make, Don't Make Do proposes how the area's rich heritage and juxtaposition of uses can continue to play an active role in its ongoing development. Proposed projects include the temporary pedestrianisation of Bow Flyover for a spectacular sky-high street party, affordable workspace subsidized by roadside advertising revenue and a range of strategies which exploit the availability of large and vacant plots of land awaiting development.