I have been using reclaimed hoarding panels from the London 2012 Olympic site. The blue fence that has surrounded the site has come down and been replaced with the permanent games time fencing. The fence consists of in excess of 15,000 sheets of plywood and is a rich source of free recycled and sustainable raw material. I have chosen to offer a select few sheets a deviation from their inevitable path towards the chipper, and to engage in a number of projects that expose the potential of what is often considered a waste product.
The built environment is globally responsible for about 40 per cent of global CO2 emissions, 40 per cent of solid waste generation and up to 40 per cent of global energy use. (Source: www.climateactionprogramme.org) I believe that this is an industry that could benefit massively from the influence of sustainable design intervention.
A selection of furniture design pieces are intended to offer locally sourced and locally produced products. The pieces are designed to be made with basic power and hand tools by people with rudimentary making skills. I am interested in developing the concept of a mobile furniture factory that could move round the parameter of a given building site using the hoarding to furnish the needs of a local community. The prototypes have been exhibited on site within the Olympic Park as well as being used in events on the fringes of the Olympic site.
A Victorian pleasure boating lake pops up on the canal next to the Olympic stadium, designed as a blueprint proposal for an antidote to a corporate Olympic experience. I am interested in how we can make the Games a distinctively British event. On Saturday 13 June, the official birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we established a pop-up boat building workshop on a site next to the canal in Hackney Wick. Using the recycled hoarding and a selection of materials from the local hardware shop, a disparate group of local and invited guests began the construction of two boats: Queenie and The Duchy. The beginning of a larger fleet, they were launched on Monday 15 June and formed a mobile cinema screen for a programme of short artists' films made around the Olympic Park and its edge-lands.
William Shannon
william.shannon@network.rca.ac.uk