Britain's leading architects are being invited to enter a competition to
design an impenetrable fortress to be built on the land earmarked for a third
runway at Heathrow.
The fortress
will be constructed at the centre of the site in west London where airport
operator BAA hopes to construct a £7bn runway and sixth terminal. An illustrious
panel of celebrities and leading architects has been assembled to judge the
entrants and select a winner. Construction will begin as soon as possible after
the winning design is announced, unless the runway plans are
dropped.
The plot of land
where the stronghold will be built - in the village of Sipson to the north of the airport - was
bought last year by Greenpeace, which then distributed ownership of it to people
across the world. There are now over 60,000 beneficial owners of the runway land
with more people signing up every day on the Greenpeace website, creating a
legal headache for any government trying to push ahead with Heathrow
expansion.
Now the one acre
plot will see the construction of a fortress intended to defend the land from
bulldozers and bailiffs. The structure will support owners of the land, local
residents, seasoned campaigners and anybody else who wants to peacefully block
the construction of a third runway. As well as leading architects, the panel of
judges includes the comedian Alistair McGowan and the sculptor Rachel Whiteread
CBE, who designed the official memorial to victims of the holocaust in central
Vienna. Once the
winning Heathrow design is chosen Greenpeace will raise the funds to build it.
Previous Greenpeace appeals have raised seven-figure sums for specific
projects.
The Open Ideas
Architectural Competition will be launched at 11am today (Thursday) at St
Pancras International champagne bar. Competition judges and leading figures from
the architecture industry will join campaigners at the reception, where the
competition brief will be revealed. The contest is open to architects,
architectural students and architect-led mixed disciplinary teams. Given the
nature of the brief, the judges are actively encouraging engineers, artists,
landscape designers, sculptors and other professionals aligned with associated
bodies to collaborate and submit designs. Greenpeace is also inviting the public
to submit ideas via its website on how to defend the land in a ‘mass brainstorm'
to come up with the best concepts.
Greenpeace Executive
Director, John Sauven said:
"This is a competition to
design what could become the next frontline in the fight against climate change.
Whoever wins the next election they will come under enormous pressure from the
all-powerful aviation industry to push ahead with a third runway. But if the
bulldozers roll they'll face a fortress occupied by a massive movement of
ordinary people who oppose Heathrow expansion."
He
continued:
"We can raise the funds to
build it, now we need the right design. We're looking for a structure that is
immovable and allows local residents and seasoned environmental campaigners to
peacefully block the diggers. It might be underground, it might be overground,
it might be both, that's up to the panel of experienced judges from the worlds
of architecture and activism to decide. This is a battle of the architects. The
other side has a budget of billions but in the end only one structure will be
left, and it won't be a new runway."
One of the judges is
Professor Neil Thomas, the founder of renowned structural engineering
consultancy Atelier One. He said:
"This has to be one of the
most fascinating design briefs ever put out to competition. Architects are being
asked to design a structure that will become iconic the moment it's finished.
Then, very soon after completion, it could face the possible threat of
bulldozers and bailiffs trying to tear it down. We think they'll fail. British
design is in a very exciting period at the moment, so it's with some relish that
we judges await the entrants."
Also on the
judging panel is experienced environmental activist Oli Rodker, a veteran of the
90s road protests, when campaigners built ingenious structures to block the
construction of roads and bypasses across the country and eventually forced the
abandonment of a multi-billion pound government road building programme.
The deadline for
submissions is April 23rd, with the winning design announced soon
afterwards. An exhibition of the entrants will be held in a central London gallery at the
beginning of June.
Another judge is leading
architect Peter Clegg, Senior Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. He
said:
"As architects we know what
can be achieved in terms of carbon reductions through the design and engineering
of our buildings. But we are painfully aware of the fact that there are bigger
issues to do with major infrastructure projects where we also need to make a
stand. Just as more and wider roads mean more cars, more runways will lead to
more planes. We have to take a stand against freedom to fly anywhere, anytime
and at any cost, and put an end to the absurd lifestyle changes that we are
indulging in, that are increasing our carbon footprints and negating the savings
we are managing to make in other areas."
Ends
For more contact
Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255 / 07801 212967
Competition
brief, autocad drawings and plans of the site can be downloaded
at:
Ability for
dozens of activists to occupy the Airplot for extended periods of
time.
Ability to
withstand attempts by private security to evict
activists.
Ability to
withstand attempts to seize the land using vehicles or heavy
machinery.
Judging Criteria
It must be as
close to zero-carbon as possible - both in terms of its embodied energy and the
energy it will use when "occupied".
It must respect
the natural environment.
How applicants respond to
site constraints, aims, basic needs, guiding design principles, requirements,
constraints and considerations.
Potential to aid resistance
to eviction.
Potential to communicate
the cultural and moral significance of the campaign to stop the
runway.
Potential to inspire,
galvanise support and communicate the gravity of the campaign to stop climate
change.
Potential to be a practical
structure that whilst drawing upon the heritage of the site, would be truly
sustainable in environmental, social and financial
terms.
Ever since we
bought our piece of land on the site of the proposed third runway at Heathrow,
we've been receiving suggestions for what to do with it. We've already sunk our
roots into it by establishing an allotment and planting an orchard, but now we
want to go one step further and for that we want to get your ideas. Watch the
video above for more details, and read on for the full lowdown on how to enter the competition.
We want to see how
we could fortify the Airplot so that, if the police and the bulldozers come to
turf us out, we'll be able to physically block the construction of a new
runway. Hopefully it will never come to that, because there's
no way a new government can continue to support the runway plans, but we
want to be prepared.
So we're running
not one but two competitions. One is for architects, landscape architects and architecture students
to come up with some practical solutions for how we can defend the land, and
the other is open to everyone to let their imaginations off the leash. We want
to make sure we get the best ideas out there so whether it's a tower, a tunnel
or a bouncy castle, get sketching.
Creativity and
brilliant ideas are more important than artistic or technical brilliance so
even if you're not Frank Lloyd Wright or Frank Gehry, if you have any inspiration
get it down on paper.
As if helping to
protect the land wasn't enough (and you'd be doing that on behalf of the
65,000+ beneficial owners), the best entries from the public competition will
be showcased alongside the architectural designs at an exhibition in London later in the year.
We'll bring one overall winner to the exhibition to see their design on display
and one of the apple trees in the Airplot orchard will also be dedicated in
their honour.
Peter Clegg Senior Partner MA(Cantab) MEnvD RIBA, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Peter Clegg established Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with Richard Feilden in 1978. Educated at Cambridge and Yale, he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath.
Internationally recognised as one of the early pioneers of sustainability, he has 30 years' experience in low energy architecture and is actively involved in research and environmental design. Last year Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was named Sustainable Designer of the Year.
Alistair McGowan Comedian and Airplot co-owner Alistair is a comedian, impressionist and actor. A gift for mimicry earned him a place among the Spitting Image regulars (he provided the voices of Tony Blair, Prince Charles and Hugh Grant), from where he graduated to his own award-winning series, The Big Impression.
Alistair is also passionate about the environment and has devoted himself to numerous campaigns to reduce waste and protect the environment. He is particularly concerned about climate change and joined with Greenpeace to buy the Airplot in January 2009.
He is also an ambassador to WWF.
Sarah North Campaigns Director, Greenpeace UK With a first class degree in Applied Ecology and MSC in conservation, Sarah is Greenpeace’s Campaigns Director and the brains behind the Airplot. Over the last decade, she has spearheaded successful Greenpeace campaigns which have defeated governments and forced climate change up the national and international agenda.
Before joining Greenpeace, Sarah took part in numerous direct actions and protests as part of the grassroots movement which overturned the Conservative Party’s road-building programme. She was at Newbury, she campaigned against the M11 link route and took part in Reclaim the Streets.
Oli Rodker Environmental activist Oli is a woodworker but also an experienced campaigner: active from the peace movement of the 1980s, through the anti-roads movement of the 90s and still at it with climate change campaigning today.
Martha Schwartz Landscape architect and artist, Martha Schwartz Partners Martha Schwartz is a landscape architect and artist with a major interest in urban projects, creating public realm spaces that engage with people, and build community through intelligent, focused, yet unexpected ideas-based design. Her background is in both fine arts and landscape architecture and is a Professor In Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she has taught since 1992.
Martha has over 29 years of experience as a landscape architect and artist collaborating with a variety of world-renowned architects on a diverse portfolio of projects. Ms Schwartz holds a Doctor of Science (DSc) from the University of Ulster, and is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the Cooper-Hewitt Museum National Design Award for her body of work in Landscape Architecture, an honorary fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects, several design awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and most recently the RSA Honorary Royal Designer for Industry Award.
She has lectured both nationally and internationally about the landscape with her work featuring widely in publications as well as gallery exhibitions.
Neil Thomas Professor and director of Atelier One Atelier One, of which Neil Thomas is director, has been described as "the most innovative engineering practice in the UK". Over two decades Atelier One has built a world-class reputation for ingenuity and innovation. By closely integrating structural engineering into each project, Atelier One creates a perception of material or spatial phenomena that transcends the sum of each project’s composite parts.
Atelier One strives to find the most efficient structural solutions requiring the least resources. In parallel the practice is continually researching materials, systems and construction methods that reduce energy consumption and regulate harmful emissions. As part of a wider design, Atelier One embraces all new technologies carefully integrating them where appropriate to achieve more environmental responsible proposals.
Rachel Whiteread Artist Rachel Whiteread is one of Britain's leading contemporary sculptors. She shot to public attention in 1993 with her sculpture, House, a life-sized replica of the interior of a condemned terraced house in London's East End which provoked intense public debate until it was eventually demolished in 1994.
Over the last decade she has developed a significant international reputation, creating major public works in both Europe and the United States. Her winning proposal for the Holocaust memorial at the Judenplatz in Vienna was one of the most prestigious sculptural commissions in Europe in the 1990s. It was unveiled in October 2000. She represented the UK at the 1997 Venice Biennale and created Monument for the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2001. Her Water Tower (1998) was just reinstalled on the roof of the Museum of Modern Art, New York this autumn. She lives and works in London and her work is represented in many private and public collections worldwide.
Sometime Greenpeace tar sands expert Lorne writes on priceofoil.org in reaction the announcement that Shell are scaling down their tar sands plans...
Remarks made by Shell CEO,Peter Voser to the Financial Times energy editor that
his company has "clearly scaled down" its plans for a massive expansion
of tar sands production should send waves of anxiety through the
Canadian oil industry and a serious rethink among energy security hawks
in Washington.
Since the middle of last year I have been writing about the vulnerability
of the tar sands industry to a slow down in the growth rate of oil
demand. With some of the most expensive cost structures in the oil
industry, the future growth of tar sands production requires oil prices
to stay high over the long term.
But high oil prices exert a deflating effect on the economy and in turn reduce demand and prices. Compounding
this effect is the fact that high oil prices have made large economies
that are increasingly dependent on oil imports, such as the USA and
China, painfully aware of their economies' vulnerability to the rising
cost of oil.
The
closing date for all entries is 5.30pm on Friday 23 April 2010. That
includes postal entries so make sure you get yours in on time. Only one
entry per person.
Entries
must be either:
Up
to two A3 pages of designs by post;
One
or more JPEG files totaling no more than 2MB in size by email;
up
to 500 words can accompany the designs to provide further explanation,
but you don't have to.
We
can't accept any other form of entries, including models (although you can
send us pictures of them.).
Postal
entries should be sent to Airplot Competition, Greenpeace UK, Canonbury Villas, London N1 2PN; email entries go to airplot@uk.greenpeace.org.
However
you send your entry, you must include your full name, address, and
telephone number - we can't consider any entries without these details. An
email address would be useful, but it's not essential. There's an entry
form you can fill in and include with your entry. All personal
details will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy.
We'll
acknowledge receipt of all entries by either email or post, but we can't
return any submissions - sorry.
The
winner will be selected by the judging panel and
they'll be looking for ideas and creativity, not artistic excellence or
technical brilliance, so thinking caps on. Entries must also reflect
Greenpeace values, particularly that of non-violent direct action. Of
course, the judge's decision is final.
The
winner's designs will be featured in an exhibition in London in the first week of June 2010.
For
the winner, overland travel to London
to attend the exhibition and one night's accommodation somewhere of our
choosing will be provided for two people. Unfortunately, we can't cover
any other expenses, the prize can only be offered during the exhibition
run and there's no cash alternative.
As
an additional prize, an apple tree on the Airplot will be dedicated in the
winner's name.
The
winner will be notified by phone in the first week of May.
The
competition is open to all ages, but if you're under 18 and you're the overall
winner, you must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
You
still own the rights to your design, but Greenpeace UK can use
any material submitted (not just the winning entries) on our website, in
publicity materials and in exhibitions now and in perpetuity.
You
can't be an employee or immediate relative of any employee of Greenpeace,
and the competition is only open to residents of the UK or Eire
(as you may have noticed, we're not big fans of flying).
You
enter the competition at your own risk and Greenpeace does not accept any
liability for you or for your guest's expenses, personal injury, damage,
theft or loss in connection with the competition even if that loss is
caused by Greenpeace's negligence. We also can't take responsibility for
entries lost or damaged in the post or via email.
The
competition is governed by the laws of England
and Wales,
so no cheating. It's just not cricket.
Make your fantastic idea into a design you can
send to us, and you can do this on paper or on a computer. It can be
either:
up to two sides of A3 paper
or JPEG files or artwork or photos up to 2MB in
total
you can also include up to 500 words to
accompany your designs, but it's not essential
No models, please! They might get damaged in the
post and we don't have room for them (but if you really want to build
one, you can send us photos).
And only one entry per person so make it count.
The judges will be looking for ideas and
creativity, not artistic genius or technical brilliance, so don't worry if
you're not Michaelangelo. And of course, your design has to reflect the
Greenpeace principles of non-violent direct action - we want to stop the
bulldozers, not blow them up.
Send postal entries to Airplot Competition,
Greenpeace UK,
Canonbury Villas, London
N1 2PN, or you can email your entry to airplot@uk.greenpeace.org.
Please include your full name, address and
telephone number. An email address would also be useful, but it's not
essential. There's an entry form you can download and complete.
The closing date is 5.30pm on Friday 23 April 2010. We have to receive all entries
by that date, even postal ones, so make you sure you send them in time.
The prize is a trip to London to visit the exhibition we'll be
putting on later in the year to showcase the winning entry alongside
submissions from the architects' contest. You'll also have one of the
apple tress in the Airplot orchard dedicated to you.
Check the full rules for all the legal stuff -
it's a bit scary but our lawyers insisted.
Ever since we
bought our piece of land on the site of the proposed third runway at Heathrow,
we've been receiving suggestions for what to do with it. We've already sunk our
roots into it by establishing an allotment and planting an orchard, but now we
want to go one step further and for that we want to get your ideas. Watch the
video above for more details, and read on for the full lowdown.
We want to see how
we could fortify the Airplot so that, if the police and the bulldozers come to
turf us out, we'll be able to physically block the construction of a new
runway. Hopefully it will never come to that, because there's
no way a new government can continue to support the runway plans, but we
want to be prepared.
So we're running
not one but two competitions. One is for architects and architecture students
to come up with some practical solutions for how we can defend the land, and
the other is open to everyone to let their imaginations off the leash. We want
to make sure we get the best ideas out there so whether it's a tower, a tunnel
or a bouncy castle, get sketching.
Creativity and
brilliant ideas are more important than artistic or technical brilliance so
even if you're not Frank Lloyd Wright or Frank Gehry, if you have any inspiration
get it down on paper.
As if helping to
protect the land wasn't enough (and you'd be doing that on behalf of the
65,000+ beneficial owners), the best entries from the public competition will
be showcased alongside the architectural designs at an exhibition in London later in the year.
We'll bring one overall winner to the exhibition to see their design on display
and one of the apple trees in the Airplot orchard will also be dedicated in
their honour.
Peter Clegg Senior Partner MA(Cantab) MEnvD RIBA, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Peter Clegg established Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with Richard Feilden in 1978. Educated at Cambridge and Yale, he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath.
Internationally recognised as one of the early pioneers of sustainability, he has 30 years' experience in low energy architecture and is actively involved in research and environmental design. Last year Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was named Sustainable Designer of the Year.
Alistair McGowan Comedian and Airplot co-owner Alistair is a comedian, impressionist and actor. A gift for mimicry earned him a place among the Spitting Image regulars (he provided the voices of Tony Blair, Prince Charles and Hugh Grant), from where he graduated to his own award-winning series, The Big Impression.
Alistair is also passionate about the environment and has devoted himself to numerous campaigns to reduce waste and protect the environment. He is particularly concerned about climate change and joined with Greenpeace to buy the Airplot in January 2009.
He is also an ambassador to WWF.
Sarah North Campaigns Director, Greenpeace UK With a first class degree in Applied Ecology and MSC in conservation, Sarah is Greenpeace’s Campaigns Director and the brains behind the Airplot. Over the last decade, she has spearheaded successful Greenpeace campaigns which have defeated governments and forced climate change up the national and international agenda.
Before joining Greenpeace, Sarah took part in numerous direct actions and protests as part of the grassroots movement which overturned the Conservative Party’s road-building programme. She was at Newbury, she campaigned against the M11 link route and took part in Reclaim the Streets.
Oli Rodker Environmental activist Oli is a woodworker but also an experienced campaigner: active from the peace movement of the 1980s, through the anti-roads movement of the 90s and still at it with climate change campaigning today.
Martha Schwartz Landscape architect and artist, Martha Schwartz Partners Martha Schwartz is a landscape architect and artist with a major interest in urban projects, creating public realm spaces that engage with people, and build community through intelligent, focused, yet unexpected ideas-based design. Her background is in both fine arts and landscape architecture and is a Professor In Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she has taught since 1992.
Martha has over 29 years of experience as a landscape architect and artist collaborating with a variety of world-renowned architects on a diverse portfolio of projects. Ms Schwartz holds a Doctor of Science (DSc) from the University of Ulster, and is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the Cooper-Hewitt Museum National Design Award for her body of work in Landscape Architecture, an honorary fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects, several design awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and most recently the RSA Honorary Royal Designer for Industry Award.
She has lectured both nationally and internationally about the landscape with her work featuring widely in publications as well as gallery exhibitions.
Neil Thomas Professor and director of Atelier One Atelier One, of which Neil Thomas is director, has been described as "the most innovative engineering practice in the UK". Over two decades Atelier One has built a world-class reputation for ingenuity and innovation. By closely integrating structural engineering into each project, Atelier One creates a perception of material or spatial phenomena that transcends the sum of each project’s composite parts.
Atelier One strives to find the most efficient structural solutions requiring the least resources. In parallel the practice is continually researching materials, systems and construction methods that reduce energy consumption and regulate harmful emissions. As part of a wider design, Atelier One embraces all new technologies carefully integrating them where appropriate to achieve more environmental responsible proposals.
Rachel Whiteread Artist Rachel Whiteread is one of Britain's leading contemporary sculptors. She shot to public attention in 1993 with her sculpture, House, a life-sized replica of the interior of a condemned terraced house in London's East End which provoked intense public debate until it was eventually demolished in 1994.
Over the last decade she has developed a significant international reputation, creating major public works in both Europe and the United States. Her winning proposal for the Holocaust memorial at the Judenplatz in Vienna was one of the most prestigious sculptural commissions in Europe in the 1990s. It was unveiled in October 2000. She represented the UK at the 1997 Venice Biennale and created Monument for the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2001. Her Water Tower (1998) was just reinstalled on the roof of the Museum of Modern Art, New York this autumn. She lives and works in London and her work is represented in many private and public collections worldwide.
