By MINGZHE XU, YUCHEN WANG, LONG PAN, JI QI

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Connection to Harringay Warehouse District

We believe the most efficient way for a design to connect to a community is to be basic, especially for a district aiming for anti-gentrification. Therefore, we choose the most basic elements: wall, slab and stair with bare concrete as the material, and arrange them in a simple form. By doing that, we not only hope that the pavilion can be part of the district, but also leave a stage like a blank paper for the local artist to add their creation to the pavilion, so that it can grow with the community.

Proposal Outline

We believe that in order for our design to be connected to the district, it needs to be simple and basic. Therefore, we choose vertical wall and horizontal floor plate to form the space of the pavilion. The soffit of the horizontal plate is cut into angles and slopes, to lighten the heavy mass of concrete. Following the shape of the site, the entrance of our pavilion is located at the corner of Seven Sisters Road and Eade Road. As people enter the pavilion, the space opens up towards west into the district.

The site is located at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Eade Road. It is at the southeast corner of Harringay Warehouse District. We design a staircase at facing this junction. It leads people to the upper floor. There are four angled platforms on the upper floor, connected by four link ways. Three of the linkways are covered, providing a spatial transition from interior to exterior. The linkway at northwest extends towards the boundary of the site, which is covered by rows of trees with a height about 5-7m. This connects people with nature. The concrete guardrail wall at the perimeter of each plat form is cut into angles to form an undulating elevation at the upper level.

We choose concrete as the material of our design because it not only endows the pavilion with a primitive aesthetic, which we believe is in consistent with the anti-gentrification vibe of the community, but also provides the artists in the community with plenty of surface to create their own work. Instead of suggesting a design that is mobile, we counter-propose a design that should belong to the district permanently. We try to encourage interaction between the artists the pavilion, so that the pavilion can grow with the community together.

Some of wall and soffit surfaces are covered entirely with mirror. This not only visually reduce the heavy mass formed by concrete and enlarge the pavilion space, but also brings the surrounding elements into the space, blurs the boundary between the pavilion and the environment. Moreover, we would like to use mirrors to emphasize the idea of self-centralization. As the warehouse district is a self-sustained community, we hope that the design of pavilion can reflect such spirit. When people look into the mirror, they see themselves from multiples angles, all situating inside the community. It gives them a sense of belonging.

The pavilion is designed to accommodate different programs. The semi-enclosed space at the lower level opens to the streets at south and east, surrounding buildings as well as nature This makes it suitable for people’s gathering and weekend flea markets. Vertical walls and horizontal platforms, with the full height mirrors, provides multiple levels of interactions for performance and workshops. Furthermore, with proper decoration, the space at upper level can be a park in the air for people to take a walk and relax.