make:good have been commissioned by Swan to engage with the local community to produce public artwork designs for integrated installations across Phases 2 & 3 of the Millennium Green project. The aim is to complement the landscape architecture and include designs that are drawn from our engagement with the local community.
We have called our project ‘The Taxonomy of Joy’ and the aim has been that through our various workshops and engagement process with residents, we would draw experiences, feelings and memories that bring people joy. We started the project during the pandemic lockdown and felt that some of the simpler joys in life were important now more than ever. We felt that the answer to the question ‘what brings you joy?’ could be the common thread and a starting point of our project.
Between June and December 2021, we engaged with the local community and various groups in the area through a series of pop-ups in the Blackwall Reach area, workshops at the Reach Hub, and a Community Discovery Day on the Millenium Green. The designs produced are very much borne out of discussions with those who joined the sessions.
The 4 key aims for this project are:
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To create meaningful public artworks in the Millennium Green by working together with the local residents
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To provide a sense of ownership and connection for the residents of Blackwall Reach through these artworks
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To reflect the unique identity of the local community
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To create public artworks that span both phases of the project to ensure connection between all of the them when the development is completed
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During the months of November and December last year, we ran four zine-making workshops. We were overwhelmed by the number of participants, and amazed at all the brilliant designs and ideas that we received. All the visuals and written ideas collected helped us to refine and finalise the artwork design.
By posing the question ‘What brings you joy?’ during our engagement sessions, we have compiled 3 key themes that came out from the community’s feedback, which have influenced our designs and approach for the public realm artworks. These themes are:
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Togetherness
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Playfulness
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Discovery
We have designed a tapestry of joy which consists of patterns co-developed and refined from the feedback collected during our engagement sessions. This tapestry represents a collection of joyful memories, feelings and things that the local residents have expressed to us. This tapestry also reflects the long history of diverse communities that have contributed to Blackwall Reach for generations and will continue to be a part of this special place.
The totems are formed from the colourful tapestry, made out of vitreous enamel metal, which sit on square concrete plinths of varying heights and located at key points on the site. The design of the totems demonstrates the idea of Discovery & Playfulness. These structures of varying heights stand out of the landscape, drawing people's attention to come and have a closer look. There will also be a cluster of Talk Tubes rising from the ground to complement the interactive experiences on-site through sound.
The Table Cloth structure develops from the theme of Togetherness and Playfulness through the design of the structure and its interactive qualities. Its undulating form, human scale and materiality allow the structure to be flexible in terms of its use by people of all ages, blending in with its surrounding landscape and providing a spot that draws people to get together, strike up a conversation or even have a picnic.
This is an uplift work based on the themes of Discovery & Playfulness on the benches proposed by the Landscape Architect, where a row of the tapestry of joy is printed and installed as one of the slats for the seat. This uplift work provides subtle intervention and connection with the rest of the artworks around Millennium Green.
