Isle of Dogs, London
The Island factories
This project considers many dimensions of displacement, reflecting on technologies, ideologies and theories that relate to this urban change. It closely considers what is lost or gained as displacement occurs. The histories of displacement between the Isle of Dogs and more distant places are studied with the aim of reimagining future relations of displacement and the relations of materials and people that create new landscapes. The individual, political and economic decisions behind actions of displacement are explored.
The landscape is destroyed and reconfigured by natural forces and by the intended and unintended human activities. Natural forces act slowly, changing the landscape progressively over long periods of time; while manmade activities, especially in the last century, had more dramatic effects.
Global warming has become the symbol of human recklessness. One century of intensive industrial activity on a global scale led to a substantial rise in global temperature, to the melting of the planets ice caps and to rising sea levels which are now menacing coastlines and islands around the world.
This project takes stock of this reality and makes a new proposal. Against a backdrop of rising sea levels, submerged coastal cities, and people on the verge of becoming climate refugees it proposes a new futuristic solution.
What if people started to live on floating islands!
The project initiates the discussion by presenting a fictional scenario where all the world’s ice has melted and sea levels have risen by more than 60 meters. A devastating scenario that ushers the end of human civilisation as we know it. Then it discusses the current state of affairs by giving examples of communities around the world affected by rising sea levels and the solutions that have been used to protect them.
Against this background, a new futuristic solution is proposed relying on existing work of several landscape architects. The centre of the project is the Isle of Dogs in London, a place where ships were built in the 19th century. The proposal re-engages with the history of the Isle of Dogs and rethinks the division between public and private spaces. Its goal is to provide a solution for victims of rising sea levels but also to create a new space in London where the boundaries between industrial business and public entertainment are removed.
Landscape architecture in this work is seen as the opponent of global warming. As the latter destroys older realities the former endeavours to create newer, somewhat kinder, ones.