A playable, interactive challenge set to appear in the Capital as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

 

As part of the London Festival of Architecture, the Farrer Huxley Team have created a life-sized puzzle called the 35 Cubes that will be popping up in a number of locations around London on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 June. The sculpture, made up of a series of brightly coloured three-dimensional shapes, has been designed to capture the attention and imagination of all who pass by.

 

The 35 Cubes will be found in unexpected locations around the Capital, aimed at encouraging Londoners to break from their daily journeys to touch, move, sit and play with the Cubes. The project hopes to trigger an instinctive desire to investigate and enjoy open space of all kinds, as well as encouraging people to consider the potential of public realm space for both the individual and communities alike.

 

Noel Farrer comments, “I am really excited to see how Londoners react to the Cubes. I believe the privatisation and sanitisation of much of our urban public realm has reduced people’s use of space to necessary journeys only. The 35 Cubes has been created to challenge the way we use and manage landscape in light of The Festival’s theme surrounding the development of ‘The Welcoming City’.”

 

The 35 Cubes will be positioned in six different locations around London over a two-day period during the London Festival of Architecture (19 June – 4 July 2010). For more information log on to the London Festival of Architecture website: http://www.lfa2010.org/event.php?id=302&name=35_cubes.

 

 

Thursday 24 June 18:00

Abbey Orchard Estate,

Abbey Orchard Street

SW12 2DLT

 

Come and join us as we navigate our way through a range of urban housing estates in Westminster, at the heart of the Capital.

 

We will be considering the impact landscape has in  creating sustainable communities and the crucial role that public spaces play in this pursuit. Our  journey begins at Old Pye Estate, a typical housing estate with a minimal landscape offering.  We will then move through two nearby estates that have been transformed from low grade car parks to integrated playable and social spaces. Escaping from the bustle of the City centre we will walk through Abbey Orchard, a project completed five years ago that has made a real and significant impact to the quality of life of the local residents. 

 

This tour aims to provide a platform from which to discuss current political housing and sustainability agendas in light of the key issues of legibility, play, the elderly, bio diversity, amenity, waste, access, consultation and art as well as the role they all play in creating desirable safe and social places. 

 

So why not come and join with us as we seek to better understand the true value and importance of landscape works in housing today!

 

For more information log on to the Landscape Institute website: www.landscapeinstitute.org/