Just Another London 'Burb

Woodgrange Park is not another Levittown. Nor are the majority of eastern London suburbs that might be accessed by the Silverlink Rail Line; a new "overground" being instituted by TFL (Transportation for London) over the next several years 1) in preparation for the Olympics and 2) to increase accessibility from suburb to city center.

What has been interesting this semester is the means with which I have been challenged to analyze Woodgrange under the assumption that "If it's Built, Why Should they Come?" i.e. once a successful transport infrastructure is in place, how should a lower-income residential neighborhood be exposed to 1) inevitable intensification and 2) necessary improvements?


Unlike the sprawling American suburb, Woodgrange Park is a dense, ethnically diverse neighborhood comprised of a "conservation area" (rowhouses from the early 20th century that remain intact and an integral part of the fabric) and low-income housing (a variety of large-scale four-story building complexes that need improvements). Despite its somewhat dismal social housing, it is traversed by two extremely busy commercial, pedestrian, and vehicular roads; Romford Road and High Street North. It is also in the center of a network of several parks and public spaces, including Wanstead Flats, Epping Forest, and Pashet Park.




So far this semester Professor Alain Chiaradia has asked my class to 1) use generative technique to create an "intervention" at our station to strengthen the network, 2) analyze the flows and movements and identify opportunities for intensification throughout our site and the region using spatial analysis and DepthMap software [similar to the firm Space Syntax's tactics] and 3) to create a conceptual design of a hybridized public building that responds to the needs previously identified in our urban analysis.

The beauty of these three assignments is that, while bearing my most recent assignment in mind, each visit I make to Woodgrange Park sheds a completely different light on the area to me.


On my first visit, clutching moleskin and camera, I set out to understand how Woodgrange Park Station, a stop on the evolving Silverlink, was being used. After observing a huge funeral crowd leave a Church and only 1 of about 200 people depart via Woodgrange, I understood why a more efficient rail network is necessary in Eastern London.


On my second visit, I became acquainted with the station's larger context and urban fabric. As my site increased and I wandered farther from actual transportation hubs, I was exposed to neighborhoods within neighborhoods boasting public amenities (and lack thereof, construction sites pertaining to Newham's present regeneration plans, as well as a range of residential housing typologies and religious institutions.

On my third visit, I began to look at how people live. It is difficult to be asked to determine what are acceptable vs unacceptable housing conditions. It is also difficult to look at an area and hope for improvement without gentrification; a task I would like to think is no impossible, but continues to be a Catch 22.

So now, with three weeks to go, I am beginning to try to reconcile how to combine transport, urban realities, and residential hopes and standards into a final proposal that will make Woodgrange Park's potentials a conceptual reality. Stay tuned...