Janh
signs might be omens
I found this rusty paving a pleasant surprise. Nice urban texture.
Windrush Square, Brixton - news and discussion
- Thread starter teuchter
- Start date
I found this rusty paving a pleasant surprise. Nice urban texture.
newbie
undisambiguated
just shrieks of social exclusion, doesn't it? tmm it's a significant signal of the fact that the designers don't know, or don't care, about people who don't behave just like them.
There's little for kids either.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
What, specifically, would you have liked to see there, that isn't?
Rushy
basically a scrotum
But wouldn't it be a little patronising for the council to to tell people exactly where to play dominoes? The old 'gardens' didn't have any specific place for the guys to play - they just adopted a spot in public space over time and made it their own and I'm sure they will do again. That's much more organic than trying to make one space cater too specifically for a myriad of user needs. It is easy to forget just how resourceful people are.
I agree that if a sign goes up saying "No boardgames" that would be pretty socially exclusive (and probably highly unsuccessful)!
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
I think it might fall under the heading 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'.
I remember seeing a park in New York City like this once, It was wonderful, They had the single seats like we do, fixed to the ground, then they also had playing areas with two single seats and a small playing table between them. Do we have any tables? I cant recall seeing any . .
How difficult would it have been for the designers to spot that people played dominos on pretty much every warm day out on the square? Just how tricky would it have been to put a few chair facing each other with provision for a table or surface of some kind?
There's no reason to defend the designers of this scheme here - the chair placement is affected and not particularly conducive to much activity.
There's no reason to defend the designers of this scheme here - the chair placement is affected and not particularly conducive to much activity.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
I think it's just a name not a representation of the culture of part of the community.
And I still don't think of it as a 'square'.
And I still don't think of it as a 'square'.
ajdown
Posting in this thread
Either "a" community or "any" community really as Brixton is made up of so many different communities.
Rushy
basically a scrotum
I guess it depends what you mean by "all about" the Windrush Generation. It is definitely named to commemorate the Windrush Generation. But surely it is built to serve everyone in Brixton equally.
The BCA on the neighbouring site will definitely be "all about" the Windrush generation (and more). The BCA were one of the design partners on this project so I guess they didn't see tables as essential to social and cultural inclusiveness. That said, work is supposed to start on the new BCA building at Raleigh Hall some time this year (according to their site) which will presumably be a perfect opportunity for changes such as the incorporation of a fixed table or two in the square to be pushed through if people haven't already established their own way of using the space by then. It is probably the ideal time for people to express concerns to both the Council and the BCA.
The BCA on the neighbouring site will definitely be "all about" the Windrush generation (and more). The BCA were one of the design partners on this project so I guess they didn't see tables as essential to social and cultural inclusiveness. That said, work is supposed to start on the new BCA building at Raleigh Hall some time this year (according to their site) which will presumably be a perfect opportunity for changes such as the incorporation of a fixed table or two in the square to be pushed through if people haven't already established their own way of using the space by then. It is probably the ideal time for people to express concerns to both the Council and the BCA.
innit
c'mon, little life giver
Black Cultural Archives, isn't it?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
It cost X thousand pounds of hard-earned tax-payers money.
More to the point, does anyone here have the ability to relate the figure to anything else in a meaningful manner?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
What's the status of the BCA project? Is there any timescale to it at the moment?
story
Changing the facts
I think there was also concern about the resulting increase of traffic on the residential streets (Kellett and Mervan Rd).
innit
c'mon, little life giver
Er, yes, with my brains.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Construction should start this year, but there's no recent news.
innit
c'mon, little life giver
This document shows that last year, they were projecting a cost of £4.25m.
It also says that the square lacks greenery in order to make the space more versatile for different types of use.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
And to reduce maintenance costs, no doubt
editor
hiraethified
teuchter
je suis teuchter
What?
innit
c'mon, little life giver
Got to love that. Get rid of the grass because it's not "versatile" enough.
I know... but I can see their point, tying in with Crispy's point about maintenance costs.
There's not much point having grass, then holding a market on it 3 days a week so that it gets totally obliterated and would need to be re-turfed several times a year. I guess they want the square to get heavy use and they are being realistic.
Similar threads
