Millwall Dock Floating Gardens, London Docklands, UK
Finalist, RIBA Forgotten Spaces Competition 2010
Team: FoRM Partner in charge Igor Marko and Peter Fink
Millwall Dock Gardens proposal is a spatial and programmatic strategy focusing on the reanimation of forgotten spaces of the Millwall Dock, an intervention which we call Migratory Urbanism. Our strategy should result in a gradual rebalance of the effect of the completed regeneration cycle from the 1990's, away from the delivered high density buildings and towards the revitalised water bodies. Our Migratory Urbanism proposal heralds the same radical green urbanism in our post industrial age as the construction of new public parks did during the period of industrialization of our cities.
Migratory Urbanism proposes a gradual interjection of nature combined with opportunities for passive and active recreation as a layer over the empty water surfaces, thus utilizing and energizing a forgotten community resource. The principle focus of our proposal is a strategy for a gradual migratory rebalancing of the relationship between water and the surrounding built environment.
A new, dramatically different green synergy and blue public realm will be introduced into East London as a sustainable ecological system accessible 24/7 and will become exemplar in energy neutral carbon footprint development.The gradual introduction of the interconnected floating island habitats will start creating a linear park over and within the water bodies themselves. This new linear park will deliver an extended functionality capable of meeting the needs of people that work and live in the recently constructed high density architecture.