2012 International Design Exchange Project, the 3rd Hidden Space Project, High street

Our cities now have to rethink and redevelop the use of space more creatively and ingeniously than ever before. Space is precious in any context but the extra pressure cities’face with the ever growing need to accommodate increasing populations mean that every open area is now a new possibility for spatial development. \n \nOne of the most recent and fascinating is discovering interstitial space, gaps in-between.Their appeal lies in their surprise and undiscovered disposition. Their purpose might involve a large community or an individual but because of its hidden or exposed position, providing an adventure, or unexpected experience. It provides opportunities for older established buildings to convey a new brief and therefore a new spirit, encouraging creativity and positive thinking, using a different energy. \n \nThe urban master planners and the local communities have to consider a more responsible composition of ideas to our environmental needs. Sustainable energy use and material choice are to be rewarded but how does this connect with the individual and the surroundings? What is our sensory involvement? Actions that involve breathing fresh air, feeling the breeze, hearing the cars rumble by, bathing in direct light, seem fundamentally prearranged but is the experience total? How do we make this encounter poignant and memorable? \n \nThe Aldgate area, where our Hidden Space is located, sits on the City fringe adjoining multi-national corporate businesses to some of the poorest areas in London which exist in its East End. The 2012 Olympic Games was secured on the basis that the East End was one of the poorest areas in Europe and in need of global support to redevelop and renew confidence amongst its diverse and multicultural inhabitants. The Olympics has in turn created opportunities to think about its legacy and the future of the East End and projects such as High Street 2012 have been written to investigate and explore the needs of the communities and their environments. From this point, the Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design took on the Aldgate project and have been developing ideas surrounding the issues of the area. The Interior students in particular looked at trade and employment as an over-arching theme. Why does this community from Whitechapel fear the corporate establishments? How do we bridge the gap between the steel and glass architecture to simple community housing estates and try to establish a positive journey guiding people to employment and career opportunities? Three sites have been identified and used to develop ideas of structural language, developing familiar and recognizable spaces to dispel the fear and allow the visitor to acclimatize in stages to the city environments. Each of the students has looked at forms and materials that incorporate ideas of confidence building, openness and inclusivity. The interventions allows for views and vistas from the street and from within spanning the depth of London across the city giving the viewer a sense of inclusion and belonging.