Making better cities

Exhibition: Framing Serendipity, by Studio Egret West

When practices open their studios during the festival people see a valuable glimpse of what architects do, but when they genuinely engage with its theme it can also be enlightening.

I headed to Clerkenwell, where Studio Egret West have taken the opportunity to launch a book, Framing Serendipity, while exhibiting models and explanations of some of the case studies it includes. They describe ‘serendipity’ as ‘a fortunate discovery that appears by accident or happenstance” which practice founders, Christopher Egret and David West, see as an essential ingredient in “the making of better cities”. I happen to agree with them. Communities evolve across generations and cannot simply be created from scratch. Places are the sum of past memories and carry with them their material and anecdotal history – the richness of personal narratives, the scars of past events. But not in some orderly and easily decipherable form. Christophe and David (architect and urban planner) have discovered that good development depends on unearthing these social and physical layers and in using them to “create rich stories for future places”.

The exhibition and book are well presented in their dedicated gallery space facing the street. A talented employee has created great cartoons across the plate glass windows. I managed to nab Christophe for a tour and we talked about the mammoth redevelopment of Sheffield’s Park Hill estate and looked at models of The Old Vinyl Factory (Hayes) and Clapham Library. Even without his explanations it’s evident that their work stands up to the book’s rhetoric about reuse, social awareness and collaboration. Christophe said it’s very hard work ensuring that their principles survive the onslaught of the development process through to the completed project and he’s rightly proud when they do. I left enthused and determined to go and have a look at them.