Project description
This project explores how architectural tactics can be used to increase the insistence of nature and ecologies within the city, employing activist and guerrilla gardening techniques to redefine the architect’s role in the context of the biodiversity and climate crises. Breaking Ground utilises Third Landscapes; sites abandoned by human uses which offer potential for unique biodiversities and ecosystems. The project reimagines the care of infrastructure, buildings and nature, prioritising the natural environment over the built. A radical approach is proposed for the Olympic Park where selected sites will be strategically demolished and occupied. Built infrastructure becomes ‘ruin’, serving as a backdrop for nature and creating a new landscape typology which provides permanent spaces for nature within the city.
A new landscape and topography are formed within Third Landscape sites for biodiversity to develop over
Ground floor plan of testbed site showing building demolition and occupation using architectural tactics
The testbed site acts as a centre for the public, local activist and local gardening groups to visit to learn more about the strategy, connect with nature, and use it as a space for meeting and organising
The architectural tactics applied to the site will begin the process of nature taking over
New habitats and ecosystems will be formed in buildings allowed to turn to ruin
Contact
amybhickery@gmail.com