WAREHOUSE FORUM

By Parallel Collective

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Connection to Harringay Warehouse District

WAREHOUSE FORUM takes inspiration from the life in the Harringay Warehouse community exploring the topic of exchange. The exchange and expression of ideas but also the exchange of our simple daily actions that define our own way of living together.

We imagine one common roof that symbolically refers to the warehouse community, that defines a new public space conceived as a platform for dialogue and confrontation for the local neighborhood. An open parliament where everybody is allowed to speak and be heard, engaging the community with its own personal contribution and experience first hand the vision of the local warehouse.

Proposal Outline

Forum: noun (meeting) [from latin forum – piazza, square] 1. A forum is a place, situation, or a medium of open discussion or expression of ideas, especially important public issues.
2. In ancient Roman towns, the forum was a square where people met to discuss business and political matters.

In our design proposal, we imagine an open parliament for the local community. A common roof defines a new public space dedicated to dialogue and confrontation, where everybody is allowed to speak and to be heard. The pavilion is conceived as a protected space for discussion which is enclosed on the sides but open to the sky through a translucent roof.

The roof is conceived as a lightweight canopy that marks the presence of the pavilion in the area and is inspired by the local warehouse buildings, establishing a clear design identity in dialogue with the industrial heritage and iconography of the neighborhood. Its translucent materiality alters the perception of the pavilion during different times: the space is perceived as a transparent tent during the day and, at the same time, it becomes a glowing lantern in the evening.

The base of the pavilion is designed to be a solid platform that accommodates a large flexible space to promote public life and encourage community events and activities. The space is framed by perimeter stairs that provide continuous seating space in the form of an amphitheater to foster new ways of interaction and expression of ideas but also protecting the space from the noise of the adjacent street junction.

A counter space with storage is integrated on the sides to allow for exhibition, market and small catered events providing maximum flexibility for the use of the pavilion.