ECOWEEK 2014 Projects in London, UK
On September 14-21, 2014 ECOWEEK took place for the first time in London, UK, hosted by the global consulting firm ARUP at their headquarters on Fitzroy Street and coordinated by ECOWEEK Associate architect Magdalena Malska. The event included 10 workshops of diverse themes addressing challenges within historic buildings, the city and the urban space, and enhanced by keynote lectures and headed by workshop leaders among them Chris Doray (Canada), Thomas Kauertz and Anja Markwart (Germany), Oliver Schneider (UK), Braha Kunda (Israel), Raffaella Colombo (Italy), and Martijn Schildkamp (Holland). The week opened with a sketching session in the city guided by ECOWEEK Chairman architect Elias Messinas.
W1: Urban Street Furniture Made of Newspapers WORKSHOP Leaders: Thomas Kauertz (Germany), Anja Markwart (Germany), and Magdalena Malska (Poland). WORKSHOP Team: Magdalena Bajolek, Antonina Bukowska, Karolina Czekaj, Ece Fettahoglu, Katarzyna Galcak, Katarzyna Misiarz, Katharina Rolfs, Elisa Santinelli, Nazli Sozer, and Marta Szpunar. W1: Urban Street Furniture Made of Newspapers The workshop focused on the design and construction of a small architectural object make of used newspapers. The students explored the possibilities and the limits of using paper for construction, with minimal joints yet with durable characteristics. The workshop proposed and built a street furniture – a street bench - in the public urban space. Workshop leaders Thomas Kauertz and Anja Markwart have extensive experience in similar constructions, having already completed paper bridges and a paper boat competition.The street furniture was built and installed successfully in situ in London, despite heavy rain that make the endeavor even more challenging. 42
W8: Eco Pop-Up WORKSHOP Leaders: Braha Kunda (Israel), and M. Leyla Turanalp (Turkey). WORKSHOP Team: Benjamin Brakspear, Fortuna D’Angelo, Despoina Kouinoglou, Doga Gizem Memis, Vick Carrillo Mullo, Federica Sodano, and Eren Eylul Yapici. W8: Eco Pop-Up This workshop focused on developing a community-based, contextual, human-centered design in Fitzovia Square which was titled ‘eco pop-up’.The group made a mapping of urban conditions and identified the lack of basic amenities in the urban space – such as seating for lunchtime, lack of green spaces, lack of playground areas for children, and traffic in certain areas. The workshop proposed a new structure to support greening the rooftops and creating places for social interaction, pop-up gardens within the city fabric, and living gardens in building corners, that allow for protected seating area and social interaction.