RIBA and Create London are delighted to launch two new projects for the Becontree Estate: a public square by nimtim architects, and a set of sculptural street furniture by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison, produced and curated by Create London. Both projects are supported by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and provide valuable spaces for the local community.
Marie Bak Mortensen, Director at Create London said, “We are thrilled to have commissioned these new public spaces for the Becontree Estate, which build on our ambitious programme of artist and architecture-led projects for the 2021 centenary celebrations. These architectural interventions make visible the council's commitment to supporting its local community while continuing Create London’s mission to develop generous and bold infrastructure that responds to civic needs, local contexts and environmental concerns.”
A new public square by nimtim architects
nimtim architects with artist Katie Schwab have reimagined four of Becontree’s existing corner plots, as a new public square for the community to meet, rest, play and grow.
“Squaring the Corners” has been inspired by the geometries, colours and materials that already exist within the estate. The new square encourages residents to take ownership of these previously overlooked spaces and reframes them as spaces of exploration, growth and interaction.
The square is the first space of its kind on the Becontree Estate, creating a part-wild, intimate public space; much smaller in scale than the large municipal parks and more social and public than the adjacent front gardens. The design includes re-wilded spaces where the intention is for the historic natural landscape to begin to emerge. The architects used as many found materials as possible, with some of the stones sourced from waste from the SuperSewer project, crankshafts donated from the former Ford factories to retain features of our industrial heritage and logs from felled trees on the estate following storm Eugene.
The designs were developed with local residents via onsite engagement days and workshops with children and young adults. These workshops directly informed the proposals, for example, residents were keen to move away from formal play features which led to more informal, naturalistic features that children could engage with. The design also includes traffic calming measures in response to residents seeking a more restful and safer environment.
The installations on the site take inspiration from colours and forms found on the estate. “The rose trellis plays on the form of the ‘bow top’ fences found surrounding many of the corner plots on the estate” says Tim O’Callaghan, director and co-founder of nimtim architects. “The blue colour is part of a palette we developed for the project which used colours found on adapted homes throughout Becontree”.
The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham will use the project as a pilot for potential projects in the future.
Sculptural street furniture by Heather Peak and Ivan Morison
Launching around the Becontree Estate in Dagenham is a series of new artworks, collectively titled “Two Cannibals Eating a Clown”, by British artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison.
The artworks are intended to celebrate and encourage a diversity of social behaviour and to create more welcoming spaces for people to rest. The furniture is installed across six locations on the Becontree Estate selected by the council and local residents. The pieces create new areas of habitable public space in previously overlooked or transitionary zones, offering places to sit and gather.
The furniture includes tables, benches and stools; they use the same palette of materials and a shared vocabulary of basic forms - the cone, the cylinder and the slab.
“We were looking to make new spaces of subtle connection out of previously overlooked sites.” says artist Ivan Morison. “We wanted to create sculptural forms that also offer rest and contemplation. The forms are as simple as children's wooden play blocks. We stack a cylinder on a cone and call it a table. We put a flat slab on a smaller slab and call it a bench. We put little hemispheres on top of these forms and call them coconuts. The title is the first line of a Tommy Cooper joke, it continues… ‘One turns to the other and asks, “Does this taste funny to you?”’ It's an absurd joke, dark and funny. Is there a direct connection between this title, this work, and this place? I think there is, but it is mysterious."
Heather Peak and Ivan Morison’s sculptural street furniture has been produced and curated by Create London, working with and supported by the London Borough and Barking and Dagenham.
Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, said: "It's fantastic to see these projects come to life and it just goes to show how art can truly uplift and bring a new dynamic to some of the oldest corners of our borough.
"As the Becontree Centenary programme draws to a close, there's still lots of exciting things to come as part of the council's wider work around preserving and maintaining the estate for generations to come."
These commissions form part of Create London’s ongoing programme of art, architecture and infrastructure celebrating the Becontree Estate and the diverse histories and lives of its residents. Each of the community-centred infrastructure projects seek to enrich the local area and give positive value to behaviour in public spaces, supported by, and in partnership with, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Other projects in this series are the playgrounds The Flamboyance of Flamingos by Yinka Ilori and Parsloes Memphis by Eva Rothschild and commemorative plaques celebrating local heroes nominated by residents, by Leonor Antunes and A Practice for Everyday Life.
ENDS
For further information, image and interview requests please contact Matthew Brown, Sam Talbot: matthew@sam-talbot.com.
RIBA press contact: ryan.johnston@riba.org
NOTES TO EDITORS
Credit lines
Squaring the Corners was co-commissioned by Create London and RIBA, working with and supported by the London Borough and Barking and Dagenham.
Two Cannibals Eating a Clown by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison was produced and curated by Create London, working with and supported by the London Borough and Barking and Dagenham.
Create London
Create London commissions socially-engaged art, generous architecture and bold infrastructure that is woven into the fabric of everyday life. Our work is driven by a belief that transformative and radical ideas can derive from working long-term within local communities. We bring world-class cultural experiences to areas where it is least expected, providing inclusive moments for individuals to expand their imaginations, foster collective action and support thriving communities.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
RIBA is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. RIBA is the custodian of one of the world’s oldest and largest architectural collections and curates architecture exhibitions and commissions at its HQ at 66 Portland Place alongside public talks, events and learning programmes. architecture.com
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Barking and Dagenham is one of London's most exciting and fastest growing boroughs. The council is facing some huge challenges, but there is also the opportunity of a lifetime to grow the borough and the community. Change is needed and it’s happening already. They are investing in physical infrastructure and in the community, providing what people need to be able to help themselves. lbbd.gov.uk
nimtim architects
Nimtim architects seek to create places that reflect the personalities and values of the people who will use them. They follow a process of dialogue and co-creation: asking questions, playing games and testing scenarios. They design together with project stakeholders: informed by the ideas and ambitions everyone brings to the project. From this process emerges spaces full of playfulness and spirit - celebrating uniqueness and difference and resonating with the people that will use them. Nimtim believe that putting people at the centre of the process creates stronger communities, better and more sustainable places and healthier and happier lives. nimtim.co.uk
Heather Peak and Ivan Morison
Artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison have established an ambitious collaborative practice that transcends traditional divisions between art, architecture, theatre and activism. Their work is often performance-based and site-specific, existing as one-off events, social projects, or large-scale installations and buildings in public spaces. In particular, they are known for their architectural structures that relate to ideas of escape, play, shelter and refuge, the transformation of the modern city, and the function of civic communities. Their central preoccupation has always been how we navigate catastrophe and the violence of change - from the wider collective view down to how individuals deal with moments of personal calamity.
