By PANTA RHEI COLLABORATIVE
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Connection to Harringay Warehouse District
The Harringay Warehouse District is a nucleus of self-sufficiency and governance; a city within the City. Like every city, it requires a place for its residents to congregate, debate, present and exchange. In an era where the boundaries between work and leisure have become increasingly ambiguous, flexibility is a requirement to cater for multiple uses and functions. From textile and embroidery designers to musicians; from painters to carpenters; from theatre workers to circus gymnasts: This proposal allows all residents the freedom to determine the physical development of their own environment, and give life to new and spontaneous modes of use.
Proposal Outline
Interzone (noun)
in-ter-zone | in-tər-ˈzōn
A zone that lies between, joins, or combines two or more other zones
Today, new ways of living have engendered a notion of the ‘collective’ home as one that transcends the conventional idea of sharing communal facilities. It extends to the exchange of cultural values, skills, knowledge and experiences, and facilitates diversity both out of choice and necessity.
In an era where the boundaries between work and leisure have become increasingly ambiguous, the resulting line between domestic and professional space has also become blurred. Flexibility is therefore a requirement to cater for multiple uses and functions, especially within denser situations where space can become sparse. From textile and embroidery designers to musicians; from painters to carpenters; from theatre workers to circus gymnasts: although diverse, all these skills share specific spatial and functional necessities, which, when combined under a single roof and shared between functions, can give life to new and spontaneous modes of use.
The pavilion is comprised of four elements: The roof, set out by two main beams and a more lightweight structural cassette, defines a sheltered area within the greater extents of the plot. The structural core, which contains the necessary services and storage to serve the pavilion, is rotated forty-five degrees in line with Seven Sisters Road and act as a beacon. The column resolves the structural cantilever and allows the roof to ‘float’, making the space beneath the roof as fluid and free as possible. Four lightweight walls that run on rails can be moved, rotated and fixed in place, to be arranged in a variety of iterations.
The choice of materials for the scheme is a further way to engage with the different crafts of the district’s residents. The walls are imagined to be of a lightweight frame construction and clad in recycled ply, in order to be decorated by local artists. The rails for the walls are based upon standardised ironmongery that can be sourced from local manufacturers. The column is both structural and sculptural, offering a further opportunity for collaboration between the disciplines of art and engineering. The core is envisaged to incorporate built-in furniture including a small kitchen and shelving for storage, with the ambition being to work with local joiners and carpenters within the community. The core’s cladding would be from recycled corrugated sheets, and painted, recycled aluminium sheets for that of the roof.
We live in a time where we are more interconnected than ever whilst also being driven apart by economic inequality and populism. Could these walls be a way of dividing space, whilst at the same time bringing people closer together?