Georgia Whitehead

Restoring a lost landscape and ecology through an architecture of renewal, reuse, re-purpose and re-wilding

A lost landscape, rediscovered through time by a physical mapping of air flows and pollen movement across its topography and river morphology uncovered a past Derry, once viewed as an island, clasped in the branching River Foyle and its dense unpassable reeds. 

Over time air flows became disrupted with cannon-fire as new men announced their arrival in Derry and began colonial occupation and a cleansing of culture and nature.

The bog-land, diminished by fire, land cultivation and built urban infrastructure, is now left scorched and dried to become a ‘field’ of societal discontent, hate and prejudice. 

Scattered with the remnants of rituals; rusted nails, shattered glass and charred timber palettes, the scorched field sits below the Derry walls. A symbol of protest and commemoration for each side of the cultural divide constructed in the fleeting bonfire, casts permanent scars on the land. Its construction unites the people of the Bogside, whilst its burning ignites the division between the two communities. 

Within the flame the displacement of air creates a temporal spatial moment which disperses immediately, creating space for a new circumstance. As fire in ecology renews, the destruction caused by the fire sparks an opportunity for repair and renewal of the ecological imbalance.

This thesis ignites the restoration of the forgotten landscape, sparked from the conceptual framework of the flame, to re-establish a new affordance between the city as a man-made construct and the ecology it too often overrides and replaces. A carbon sink to restore and replenish the Bogside. A place of ritual and memory beyond the impermeable conflict infrastructures currently in place. A place for recycling and re-purposing of material, water and craftsmanship.

Renewal of a Community

The ecological process of renewal from the destruction of fire, sparks an opportunity for repair and renewal. It forms a centre for recycling, reuse and refurbishment of the communities architectural salvage, to change the perception of waste, to a useful resource. 

The architecture evolves around the curved intuitive and fun, polycarbonate recycling wall. Accessible from the second floor, it overlooks the public workshops, where recycled materials can be used by the public to refurbish and renew their old architectural salvage or create something new. This celebrates the act of construction in a community environment, and creates a place for positive [re]construction for the people of Derry. 

A Layering of Landscapes

A strata of landscapes evolve from a layering of each WEAP exploration of Derry's past. The overlays construct a map which illustrate densities of Psychogeography and symbolism - revealing a lost landscape for renewal. 

Sustainability through Placemaking

Free Derry Corner acts as a symbol for civil rights for the people of the Bogside and is declared a national monument. Once the gable end of a row of small terrace houses it is now situated on an island on Lecky Road, alongside other memorials and large murals depicting key events over the years of conflict. Yet, the setting of this national monument, cramped between two dual carriageways does not seem appropriate or respectful as a place for commemoration and reflection. 

This design thesis proposes a wetland masterplan, which connects the existing memorial sites to create a cohesive, calm, natural environment for reflection and commemoration - providing a new landscape for remembrance.