M@Green Ideas For Improving LondonThe Lido Line by by YN Studio: "Can you swim from Little Venice to Limehouse? An idea to insert a clean, safe ‘basin’ in which to swim the ‘Lido Line’. Flips the Regents Canal back to its original purpose – connecting raw material (people/workers) to the place of production. Swimming becomes a viable alternative to cycling or walking to work."Green Arteries by Bell Phillips Architects, Spacehub and Aecom. "A scheme to transform London’s flyovers into productive and beautiful green arteries that would reduce the heat effect, encourage biodiversity and negate the impact of traffic noise. The flyover at Bricklayers Arms in Southwark used as an example."A Green North Bank by Yue Rao and Chuanwen Yu: "Transform the riverbank from Blackfriars Bridge to Lambeth Bridge into a linear green space to connect them."The New River – New Life for a Forgotten Waterway by Place Design and Planning: "The New River aqueduct provides 11% of London’s fresh water – this scheme will transform the existing simplistic landscape with a series of interventions to reveal, reconnect and diversify one of London’s forgotten waterways. Includes new habitats for wildlife and bio-retention ponds to mitigate storm water."Pop Down by Fletcher: "Priest makes use of the hidden ‘Mail Rail’ tunnels beneath Oxford Street to create an urban, underground experience: urban mushroom farm with the introduction of daylight through a series of sculptural glass-fibre mushrooms at street level."Lea Valley Rain Farm by Andres Briones: "A new strategy of water management to address water scarcity. A ‘Rain Farm’ in the Lea Valley to collect run-off and rainwater that would be stored in new local reservoirs and used for local neighbourhoods."Re-Structure by Scott Badham and Ian Fisher: "The transformation of existing transport infrastructure (bus and DLR) into living walls – e.g. biocentric ‘mats’ and ‘sleeves’ layered onto existing fabric.)Blackfriars Green Bridge by Terra Studio: "New iconic green bridge over the Thames between existing disused pillars."Barge Walk by Erika Richmond and Peggy Pei-Chi Chi: "The creation of a linear park, farm and wetland on barges anchored at the edge of West India Dockyards."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."Retracing London's drovers' roads by Howard Miller and Rowena Hay: "A scheme to rediscover the ancient routes used to move livestock from pasture to market. These routes still exist in London – this idea focuses on the route from Hackney to Bishopsgate. Creation of landscapes of living heritage and green spaces for ‘slow’ activities."Street Orchard by Laura Rowland and Claire Beard. "A natural intervention around existing bus stops so they become shared cultivation areas. Fruit trees planted/bus stop roof altered to be a larger sedum roof – catching falling fruit and collecting rainwater, with insulated beehives placed within the trees."
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.
