Zifeng Ye Yr
Inhabiting Common’s Nature In the past 100 years the UK has accumulated over 26000 ha. of brownfield sites from shifting industrial activities, often inaccessible and disconnected from local life. Looking to the notion of a commons nature as inspiration, the project speculates on restoration strategies that involve both people and nature in creating a sustainable, productive and recreative rural landscape.
The project seeks to establish a 1 ha. woodland common inside a gravel quarry / inorganic waste landfill site spread across 100 hectares by the East Tilbury coast.
The Common introduces access into the site and initiates a century-long programme to turn the disturbed soil to a permaculture forest through the common management of the East Tilbury community. The building performs two roles: 1) it houses facilities for forest management and wood processing; 2) it acts as a community hub, providing indoor and outdoor spaces for locals and visitors alike to gather, rest, participate in restoration work and take tours across the strange landscape.
By transforming a hundredth of a dormant site into a vibrant social landscape, the project seeks to re-aestheticize ‘waste’ land and materials in order to rekindle a common interest in caring and living with the landscape.
