In conversation with Studio MUTT
By: Camden Highline
Tags: Camden, London, Volunteering, Kings Cross, Pocket Park

CH: Can you tell us about your approach to Camden Gardens how did you respond to the design brief? What were your thoughts?

We worked in collaboration with Camden Highline, Howard Miller Design, Camden schools and local community groups to deliver the pocket park which foreshadows phase one of the Highline project.

Torriano School students in Camden Garden park as part of our Education Programme

Our aim was to transform an unloved green space into an active, informative and theatrical park. The design adopts the language and graphics of railways and reinterprets this to create bright and graphically strong elements that liven up the park, re-imagining as-found items as seating and sculpture. At the centre of the scheme is ‘The Foreman’, a characterful wayfinding point and totem for the wider Highline project.

Liz and Rupesh, two of the seventy plus volunteers who helped make the pocket park happen!

CH: What were the challenges of the project?

The main challenge was how to make a big impact over a large area with a small budget especially as the elements had to be able to deal with being outside. It was a fun challenge though and forced us to think more creatively to conjure up a solution.

Studio MUTT in action

CH: The park includes three elements — seating, planters and wayfinding. Can you talk them through in a bit more detail?

To maximise impact and ensure longevity, we propose to use predominantly ready-made and as-found objects, with some bespoke elements, as seating and sculpture.

Signage being installed by Out of Order Design

The elements are monumental, reminiscent of construction sites and railway infrastructure, suggesting a park in flux, about to transform into something else.

The seating elements are modular and as-found, but are lifted off the ground to ensure longevity. To do this, we used cast concrete cylinders which turn the beams into bridge like structures across the landscape.

Gateways are constructed using scaffolding components as park entrances. CNC cut lettering announcing the park orientation are fixed to the poles.

The wayfinder creates a visually-noticeable tall signpost for the project through painted scaffolding poles. These are erected vertically, emerging from a table with the project information and a looming metal character, the foreman himself.

Finally the planters are made from corrugated metal sheeting fixed to a welded framework. Large Bulk bags sit within the containers and hold the stone, soil and planting designed by Howard Miller.

CH: Can you tell us what you enjoyed about working on the project?

We had a very good team on the project with Howard Miller Design, Out Of Order Design, Camden Highline and of course we also had a huge number of energetic volunteers to help with the install. There was a real energy to the project and for this reason it was a joy to be part of so we would like to thank everyone that took part and can honestly say it wouldn’t have happened without them.

AHMM-designed Hawley Wharf in the background, Camden Highline volunteers in the foreground!

CH: While we’ve got you here. You spend a lot of time in Camden, can you tell us about the buildings, places, spaces in Camden that people reading this should visit?

Cyberdog in Camden Market

The remaining fragments of Terry Farrells TV-am building are great, especially the iconic giant egg cups that still crown some of the the rooftops along the canal. As we are on the canal its also worth mentioning the new development of Camden Market by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (mostly because we worked on the project while working there early in our career).

….Cyberdog because its madness

And what’s next, what other projects are you working on? Where can we catch you next?

We’re touring the UK, starting in Camden, a few dates in London, then off to Coventry, back down to Enfield, and ending up in Liverpool for a residency.

Project-wise, Bags: Inside Out, the exhibition we have been designing with the V&A Museum, opens in April. Curated by the fantastic Lucia Savi and her team, the show features 300 bags of all shapes and sizes, from tiny vanity cases, to Carrie Bradshaw’s Fendi Baguette, to an early Louis Vuitton luggage trunk. At the other end of the spectrum, James Street, a new build hotel on Liverpool’s historic waterfront, has recently been granted planning permission and we are looking forward to moving forward and delivering that. Finally, we are in initial discussions with a new client about a very exciting immersive project in north London. Watch this space…

CH: Thanks guys!

If you want to volunteer your time and skills to the project then send us an email! info [at] camdenhighline [dot] com