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- Fleet River Channel by Richard Reynolds: “An idea to liberate London’s lost river – the Fleet – as a new low-line park. The Fleet’s last half mile runs from directly under Farringdon Road and New Bridge Street to the newly enlarged Blackfriars station. The Fleet River Channel would reinstate the shallow stream in a cutting one storey below street level with pedestrian footpaths at either side. Traffic would cross on two new bridges. The stone-faced cutting walls would be a canvas for an eclectic sequence of planting and public art.”
Green bus stops, subterranean mushroom farms, a verdant bridge at Blackfriars and — our favourite — a clean(ish) swimming lane along the Regent’s Canal dubbed the “Lido Line”.
170 proposals, by architects, designers and non-professionals, were submitted to the High Line for London Green Infrastructure Ideas Competition, which sought ways to naturally beautify the capital in a manner similar to New York’s High Line. Judges have now whittled the field down to a shortlist of 20. Proposals include both large-scale landmarks and more locally focussed interventions, or ideas that could be replicated throughout London. All are on show at the Garden Museum in Lambeth from this weekend.
As yet, the ideas are just that. Although the ultimate winner will receive a £2,500 prize, no serious funding or planning applications are mentioned. The competition does, however, have the backing of both the Landscape Institute and the Mayor of London. Boris Johnson has plenty of form when it comes to promoting creative, if sometimes over-optimistic, urban projects: viz the cable car, raised cycleways, his own green bridge, ‘Boris Island’ and the Orbit tower. He’ll be announcing the prize-winning designs on 8 October. Might we soon be collecting fungi in a disused Tube tunnel?
The Garden Museum and Landscape Institute are organising a series of events themed around New York’s High Line, the inspiration for this project. More details here.
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