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.