SYNOPSIS
The East End was and still is an area that immigrants settle in. Since the Roman period, the East End has been a place where many poor working-class people live. Across the centuries, a lot of different immigrant communities have passed through the area- Huguenots, East European Jews, Bangladeshi, Africans. The social context of the area and the fact that it was always a stepping stone for immigrants, along with a personal interest for the history of places and the way that historical change is expressed spatially, led me to focus my research on this particular area and specifically on Wentworth street. Traces of the different immigrant communities are evident here. Wentworth Street is a kaleidoscope of social, economic and spatial aspects of immigration, with a rich tradition in the textile and clothing industry. These elements have overlapped for over a century and therefore created a unique mix of cultural heritage. Hence, my project is focused on the way that migrant history can be traced through the fabric industry’s heritage of the street and how it can be preserved and redefine the street’s future. The design aims to align the historical and cultural traces with the new circumstances of today and activate the whole street, by an intervention in three parts. First, I propose an overall installation of fabrics, that encloses the street and connects interior with exterior, in order to create a sense of coherence, so users can read the street as unit, feeling within a kaleidoscopic approach of history and tradition. The second category is point installations, arranged on the street, based on the users’ movement patterns, with historical and cultural elements of street’s fabric industry’s heritage. The third part is a dialogue with the contemporary urban environment. A response to the wider area inclination to street food by mixing the existing weekday street food market with the point installations, an enclosed united street.
Master Plan - Abstract Map
The design proposal’s intentions and key elements compose the master plan. The three categories are blended along the whole site. The general canopy on the top develops line are aligned with the street, but at the junction with the street food stalls becomes wider in order to cover it as part of the streets enclosed space. Point installations are designed according to the user’s flows.
