In the third and final installment of their micro documentary series on architecture and water, Ellis Woodman and a team at the Architectural Review (AR) have collaborated with architects, developers, urbanists and thinkers to examine the latent connections between water infrastructure and our built environment. Taking a journey by narrowboat through London, the film explores the radical ideas which may offer the keys to unlocking the potential of the urban waterway. Through recreation, interaction and radical ideas such as floating parks, amphibious houses and new public wetlands can the river become a living part of the city?
See the first part and second installments of the three-part series below:
1. Exploring Radical Ideas To Unlock The Potential of Urban Waterways
Does climate change present an urgent need to rethink our rivers and, if so, what challenges and opportunities does the urban waterway bring with it? As cities become ever denser and housing shortages squeeze the urban poor, can urban waterways become more than a transport route and pretty views to boost property values? Most fundamentally, how is the potent and rapidly changing relationship between architecture and water affecting the city and wider society?
Architecture & Water: Exploring Radical Ideas To Unlock The Potential of Urban Waterways
2. The Question of Gentrification Along London’s Urban Waterways
As London grows ever denser and its property prices climb beyond the reach of many would-be homeowners, there has been a significant resurgence of interest in opportunities to inhabit the Thames and its associated waterways. Meanwhile a ribbon of development is creeping along the banks of the river often displacing those who lived there previously. Is the water a force that will unlock an increasingly unaffordable city or one that will fuel a trend of gentrification and displacement?
The Question of Gentrification Along London's Urban Waterways
The AR are also hosting a number of associated debates at the Old Royal Naval College in London. Find out more and book tickets here.
