The winner of Makerversity’s City Co-Labs: Re-Making Place Civic Hack in partnership with The Northbank BID is… Hydro-Commons!
Makerversity’s Civic Hacks address the big social issues of our time. Fostering collaboration between makers and the public, exploring design’s role in creating radical solutions to the problems we face. The Re-Making Place Civic Hack explored the future city via the way we use and design its public spaces. In partnership with the Northbank BID, drawing inspiration from the ongoing project to pedestrianise the Strand-Aldwych area, as a starting point to develop innovative ideas around the function of public city spaces in London and beyond.
Helen Tartaglia and Nasra Abdullahi teamed up during the Civic Hack this summer and displayed their proposal in Somerset House as part of a Makerversity exhibition for London Design Festival. Helen and Nasra seek to explore how sustainable drainage systems can be developed, which also act as public spaces.
London receives 6 billion tonnes of rain water each year: their research began by an exploration of ways to reutilise this excess rain water. The final proposal is a 1500 mm x 1500 mm tank with a surface that sits above ground. The underbelly of the tank absorbs or stores rain water. The bed acts as a public space, be it a micro beach, splash pad or hydroponic seating area.
They will receive a £1000 grant and a 6-month Northbank BID residency at Makerversity to develop their project further.
