Argyro Epaminonda
The Patchwork
Upon Greenham Common, prevalent south westerly wind dominates the open terrain and commands the landscape around. With such force, a recurring environment throughout the common, its presence is an overwhelming factor across the site.
Hailing its rich aeronautics and RAF history, through a response to wind conditions and a yearly public festival, Greenham Common’s sustainable community harnesses, celebrates and draws upon the sheer power of the conditions present. The site is home to an agricultural community, a public exhibition demonstrating the achievements of the self-sufficient town, and a festival. During the festival the public are engaged within the core of the town and take part in light-hearted family fun in the form of kite flying, paper plane and paper boat racing all of which are made with on-site produced straw paper and constructed by the public in the workshops of the community.
Wind, Animation, Festival, Sustainable, Straw
The Patchwork is a waste management farm where cattle waste is reused or recycled, and orchards are produced. Therefore, environmentally responsible farming practices are promoted throughout the projects’ areas. Moreover, the cattle’s contribution in terms of meat production and methane are questioned. The biodiversity of the natural environment and landscape in the Pang, Kennet, and Lambourn valleys are conserved and enhanced through constructing an Ark site for the endangered, white-clawed crayfish, furthering the attempts already made. Inspiration has been taken from the Oak, Ash, and Hazel trees of the site’s forest to create the patchwork system found throughout the project: in the animal bridge; floors of the building, facade, and barrier. Last, this scheme considers the maintenance for and appreciation of the orchards and farms by the involvement of the local community.
The Lightworks
Introduced in the heart of Reading Town, Hogmanay, the Scottish celebration of New Years, brings a large infusion of culture and festivity to the local area. Cock-a-Leekie soup, being an integral cuisine of the Scottish, accompanies the festivities. The influx of Hogmanay culture, introduced by the arrival of the Soup Facility, will indulge Reading in a host of traditions that seek to bring people together to celebrate the New Year and the fresh start that follows midnight. On New Year’s Eve in Reading, the public are invited to join in the activities, including; farming the ingredients for the soup, trying the soup, setting Juniper branches alight at midnight, Ceilidh dancing, drinking homemade Gin, and the chance to watch as the chefs produce the soup from raw ingredients on site.
Cock a Leekie , Scotland, Timber, Homemade, Feathers, New years
Circus Herman Renz inspired the light and shadow theme of the Lightworks and the hyperboloid form of the canopy. These factors have filtered into the semi-permanent building. The hyperboloid tensegrity form has informed the columns of the Lightworks, and the light and shadow theme can be seen throughout the building spaces. The metallic mesh that is draped around the building creates beautiful reflections. The columns themselves act as lightwells filtering light to the lower floors and hence creating shadows. Also, the semi-permanence of the building has been thought about carefully with the metallic mesh acting as the external skin of the Lightworks with no walls and with the creation of accommodation pods for the performers that can be easily disassembled.
