Somerset House - 'London Open City'

Design for London's exhibition, London Open City, is being held at Somerset House between March and April 2008. London Open City offers new perspectives on the city and suggests an approach to unlocking the potential of London's public places and streets.

The exhibition is split up into three sections titled 'Connect', 'Activate' and 'Unlock'.


As you walk into the first section of the exhibition, you are presented with four wooden huts, which look at how connections between different parts of the city can be improved; how a better balance can be achieved between vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians as well as suggestions of how to remove the physical and psychological barriers to movement through the city.

The enclosures created a miniature environment for each aspect where information could be absorbed effectively. One of the huts was interactive including a wheel with a rope that could be pulled to turn to the next slide e.g. plan of the East London Green Grid.




At Aldgate the gyratory accentuates the division between the City and the East End. In readdressing the balance between people and cars it is possible to reconnect parts of the city and create spaces which work at a human scale.
This video was successful, using mixed media including sketches to show change. The way people use space is through movement and sometimes video is the most effective method to communicate this.



The second room held a series of tables illuminated with images from a selection of projects involved in the 100 Public Spaces programme, such as Victoria Embankment, each one accompanied with a stand and book. This was a creative way to display ideas with the glowing images attracting your attention and the books complimenting them with text and plans for the future of the site.

Victoria Embankment is an important project that seeks to enhance the riverside as a public space, to connect both sides of the river and to knit the South Bank and Jubilee Gardens with Trafalgar Square and the Royal Parks beyond.


The third room was all about nature in London, with woodland wallpaper in the background setting the scene. The East London Green Grid, represented in photos lining a box, is the first phase of a project to enhance the intrinsic qualities of London's natural habitats and to create a network of living spaces across the city. As well as providing places for recreation, the grid will improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, improve biodiversity and alleviate flood risk by restoring natural river banks.

Eco Fair

During late September 2007 an Eco Fair was held for the first time at the Landmark Centre in Teddington, South-West London, where over 70 exhibitors displayed different eco-friendly products and services to encourage people to lead a sustainable way of life.


The Landmark is a former Gothic church, which was restored to be used as a cultural centre for the arts. The high ceilings and historical architecture acts as a dramatic backdrop for exhibitions, creating a vibrant atmosphere.


One of the stalls was based on the Local Biodiversity Action Plan, which sets out the framework for the protection, conservation and enhancement of wildlife within Richmond Upon Thames. This section of the exhibition was aimed to raise awareness of local wildlife and habitats and how all sectors of the community can get involved to conserve biodiversity.


Cut My Carbon offers innovative products and technologies, to homeowners and businesses, to help reduce their carbon footprint. Solar lighting is an example of the products that were being shown.


There was also an architecture display showing how sustainability had been implemented into the projects. An example of this (shown above) is in Maidenhead, where the housing association 'Housing Solutions' approached INTEGER in 1998 with a scheme for a site called Alpine Close. The design incorporated many innovative environmental features concerning low energy use, and therefore, low bills for tenants was a central theme. One design consideration was that houses were orientated and configured to benefit from passive solar gain from their south-west elevation.


Urban Lifetile are London's only multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, designers and landscapers to focus exclusively on urban roof gardens and green roofs, and aim to raise awareness of the benefits of these green spaces. Green roofs can provide habitats for wildlife, and are able to absorb up to 75% of rainfall, thus reducing the runoff dramatically, and lowering the risk of floods. Setting up a green roof sample at the stall was an effective way of presenting the idea, as it helped the viewer to imagine the possibilities.