ID:246 | Open in NocoDB | Type:Map | Themes:5 | Attachments:1 | Finding:24 chars | Connections:0→0 | Location:None | Weather:None | Date:Friday 29 October 2021 | Press 'D' to close

Dudley Time Portal

What if? Green corridors - Annabel Linch Green Corridors.png
What if? Green corridors
Added to Archive Saturday 19 February 2022
Experienced Friday 29 October 2021
Type Map
Themes Boundaries Water Nature Plantlife Growing
What was/is/if What if
More tagged with theme Growing
Looking to be the centrepiece of our exhibition, we proposed to create a site model of Dudley Highstreet at 1:200 scale with buildings modelled in a simple form. Local residents and visitors to the exhibition are then invited to decorate a chosen building to how they would envision it sat within the context of a greener Highstreet. We want to tie in our themes of biodiversity and materials by proposing that buildings can, and do, have the potential to be a lot healthier, sustainable, and interactive on the street. This site model also helps gain vital public opinions on the Highstreet and prompts discussion of areas most in need of attention. To ensure that the model is utilising the MDF to the most efficient standard possible. First, the centres of the massing blocks have been hollowed out. This allows a reduction in materials used as other buildings can be cut in the centres of the model. Then the top is finished with a solid piece. The waste material is placed into the recycling rack where other students can reuse it; otherwise, if the material left cannot be used for another project, it is recycled correctly by the university. The model spanned just over 3.4m long and over 50cm wide. With the majority being cut from scrap woods that would fit the jigsaw of the shape, we were able to drastically cut down on waste. We also got some small benches and bee hives printed from recycled plastics, and used dried flowers as trees to represent the green spaces. Ultimately, the model seemed like a huge success, and really helped portray our ideas about Dudley High Street to those who came by. Everyone from Dudley who saw the model knew that it was the High Street, and interacted well with it. The size did make it difficult to move, especially to carry to the site, but it sat nicely in the centre of the the room and really drew people in to interact with it. The model brought people in from outside to play with, write on, interact with. It became a spectacle for the public to come in and see what was happening and offer their ideas about what could be done. The event was a success. Many people from the public (those who heard about the event, and those who just happened across it on the day) came in to interact with the model, which sat as the centre piece in the room. Kids liked to play with the pieces while the adults talked about things that could come from actions to help the High Street, not just leave it as is. SOME OF THE KEY IDEAS WERE: - The Shops need to be inviting for everyone. It’s no good having these places to go if people would rather take a bus to the next town. - Just putting up boards across the windows is awful. Paint, Posters, Graffiti: Anything that actually makes the High Street look still alive is better than just wooden boards. - More Green is needed. While it is obvious that there is a lack of Trees, many people wanted to push for these small bushes or planting spaces that could easily be implemented across the street. - Spaces for public events or for people to at least gather at. While there is the Market and Fountain, it is not enough for the people of Dudley. - Something needs to be done about the cars on the High Street. Some were Pro-Removal of all Cars, while some just wanted to limit when they could access the High Street. Following the exhibition we created a series of drawings with our own interpretation of Sarah Wigglesworth ‘The Dining Table’ drawing. The drawings are a perfect representation of the our interactive model at the ERA Environmental Exhibition and Event. Showing the interaction the public had with the model, as well as the conversations that were held around the model. - Table 7.png
Stepping Stone 2 is about making the High Street bespoke to Dudley through street furniture. We wanted to make the High Street more sociable and colourful. By providing outdoor seating areas, people would be invited to speak to each other and bring back a sense of community. - 1_o3nY3c2woc53u0TgQDtpOw.png
Small tree growing next to wall, high up - 210731 1050.jpg
Ferns growing in the drain pipe - 210731 1050.jpg
The whole High Street would be dug out to make way for this new kind of “street”. The idea, as stated, is to alter the way that people use this street, so that they can learn about the legacy of Dudley. This would mean that there would be a canopy that sits on top of the cut, that would also act as a means to shelter everything underneath, but would also be made in Dudley to promote local craftsmans. This canopy can then hold something like Theatre Curtains with the history of Dudley presented on them. As you walk through the cut, you go through all the different parts of Dudley’s Legacy - Saxon, Middle Ages, Industrial Revolution, Modern, and you would end the walk on the “Future”. You would start at one end, up by the top church, and as you walk through towards the market place, you would walk through the eras in chronological order. Then, once you exit the tunnel, you would leave the Modern era, and come out into the reclaimed green space, which would represent the future of Dudley’s Legacy. This would be a Miyawaki Forest that would be expanded out through the streets, taking over the spots where cars used to drive, to now benefit Dudley, it’s people, and the world as a whole. Dudley’s High Street is about 240 metres long, about 9 metres wide, and rises about 8 metres. This would provided a very prominent feature for the High Street if it was dug out and recommissioned. An added aspect to the dug out street would be that of the canopy that would reside above it. While thinking of the design, two ideas stood out - one that would stand raised, at about the same level as the end of the street, which would create this arcade styled archway that would reside high above the street. The second was having the canopy be flush with the pavement all the way up, except at the end that would then provide a small increase around the steps. Both ideas serve the same purpose, but provide drastically different means of doing so. - Oscar Law Parti Diagram.png
More tagged with type Map
High Street Building Occupancy The majority of the shop fronts are general retail units with many other building occupancies relating to services, clothing, healthcare. The section of high street has 160 stores/buildings. The majority of the building use are assigned as retail units with many also accommodating to services, banks and cafe’s. The high street does however contain 24 vacant units, 15% of the studied building usage. - Matthew Hewitt 1.png
'Fast motorbike / loud & fast' - 230720 Bill.JPG
Localised Green Spaces Here I begin to locally map Dudley, identifying its potential for green space for planting or PV panels. There is a huge potential here with up to 22,855m2 of flat roofs directly looking onto the high street. As well as the potential for a street takeover. This map is only a theoretical analysis of a utopian idea; however, even if a small percentage of the green space highlighted became an area for planting, that is a success. Limitation to rooftop planting would be based on the structural qualities of the existing structure. It would be wrong to say that these would be suitable with the additional weight. - Ryan Cooksey Green roofs.png
Street plant sightings The charted planting is a selection of the current extent of the high street. As discovered, the area has little to no variance, with the exception of the more developed properties at either end of the high street. These properties generally have more trees and mature planting around them, making them more appreciative of the biodiversity. Facing the high street, there is approximately 2690m2 of greenery, the majority of which is situated at either end, on the property of the two churches. Ignoring these numbers, the area of greenery drops significantly due to the limited overgrowth around lampposts, bins and along the store fronts. For the wider biodiversity of the high street the select amount greenery provides very little benefit for nesting wildlife. Within the developed properties more thought and appreciation can be given to accommodate a more diverse spread of wildlife and planting. Along the high street there is little consideration for interactions with the wider biodiversity, a few trees (provided by the council) and strip of high level planting along a store front. As for the rest of the ‘greenery’ along the high street, this could be seen more as neglect from the cleaning and maintenance of the street. The remaining biodiversity identified comes from areas that have retained water from lack of drainage and moisture retention. Seen around the street furniture, grass, weeds and moss can be seen growing along the gaps between paviers and along gutters. Despite being ‘greenery’ these areas provide no benefit to the biodiversity and are more of a sign that the council have no intention to improve the state of the area. Within the developed quarters, the majority of the biodiversity is grassland, which too only has a limited positive environmental impact. The two churches provide an excellent coverage of their respective sights and can provide a good quality of air and absorption of CO2 due to the large number of trees and bushes . Whilst the grasslands are a welcoming sight, they play a very little roll in absorbing CO2 and to provide other positive environmental impacts that the larger greenery does. - Matthew Hewitt Street Plant Sightings.png
The whole High Street would be dug out to make way for this new kind of “street”. The idea, as stated, is to alter the way that people use this street, so that they can learn about the legacy of Dudley. This would mean that there would be a canopy that sits on top of the cut, that would also act as a means to shelter everything underneath, but would also be made in Dudley to promote local craftsmans. This canopy can then hold something like Theatre Curtains with the history of Dudley presented on them. As you walk through the cut, you go through all the different parts of Dudley’s Legacy - Saxon, Middle Ages, Industrial Revolution, Modern, and you would end the walk on the “Future”. You would start at one end, up by the top church, and as you walk through towards the market place, you would walk through the eras in chronological order. Then, once you exit the tunnel, you would leave the Modern era, and come out into the reclaimed green space, which would represent the future of Dudley’s Legacy. This would be a Miyawaki Forest that would be expanded out through the streets, taking over the spots where cars used to drive, to now benefit Dudley, it’s people, and the world as a whole. Dudley’s High Street is about 240 metres long, about 9 metres wide, and rises about 8 metres. This would provided a very prominent feature for the High Street if it was dug out and recommissioned. An added aspect to the dug out street would be that of the canopy that would reside above it. While thinking of the design, two ideas stood out - one that would stand raised, at about the same level as the end of the street, which would create this arcade styled archway that would reside high above the street. The second was having the canopy be flush with the pavement all the way up, except at the end that would then provide a small increase around the steps. Both ideas serve the same purpose, but provide drastically different means of doing so. - Oscar Law Parti Diagram.png
More tagged with theme Plantlife
Ferns growing in the drain pipe - 210731 1050.jpg
Mossy algae on wall below the windows - 210731 1050.jpg
Flower for the High Street Pick up your flowers on the way home - Sita Patel More than human high street 1.png
A vision for the High Street - Michelle Gartside Vision for the High Street.png
A More-Than-Human Story of Dudley High Street This story is a collective outcome after utilising completed Street Detectorism maps, and More-Than-Human findings to create of 'A More-Than-Human Story of Dudley High Street'. As part of a dissertation study, this workshop invited participants to share their imagination and develop stories from the previous findings on Dudley High Street. This story creatively archives nature on Dudley High Street, with emphasis for the value of storytelling and nature at the forefront of this task. - A More-Than-Human Story of Dudley High Street (08_12_2021).jpg