London : The Unique City
Cathy Hawley and Hugh Strange
London is changing; it is growing and aging. The city's population is increasing at a remarkable pace, an estimated one and a half million people will be added by 2030, while in parallel it is facing a massive demographic shift; over the next twenty years the number of over 60's in the capital is expected to rise by nearly 50%. Working with sites within North-West London, the unit proposes housing solutions for this group, exploring the relationship between the individual and the wider collective realm of a community and a city.
The areas considered are, or once were, at the edge of London. Camden Town, Hampstead Village and High Barnet were all once independent communities that have become enveloped by the larger city as it expanded, each nevertheless retaining their distinct character. This transformation has exposed the relative nature of centre and edge conditions, at the same time revealing how the urban grain of London is comprised of buildings and ensembles that represent village, suburban and urban histories. The relationships between these historic conditions and the typologies of inhabitation characteristic of the city's housing stock – terraces, mansion blocks, villas, towers, semi-detached – are what determines the particular character of London.
