Joe Digweed

BA Art and Design

This project is in response to the proposed regeneration of the Aylesham Centre in my local area of Peckham, London. These plans, which involve the construction of high-rise buildings ranging in height from four to twenty storeys, have generated significant local debate and opposition, reflecting the community’s concerns about the overdevelopment, loss of character, and the effects on existing businesses and residents. My work explores the impact of the built environment on society, investigating the social and psychological implications of urban redevelopment.

Interviews with members of the community provided diverse perspectives on how the redevelopment would affect their lives, sense of community, and mental wellbeing. Inspired by the works of Archigram and the Architectural Review’s Manplan series, I experimented with various techniques to conceptualise the ideas and responses provided by local residents. The drawings depict a visual progression, demonstrating the overwhelming scale and imposing nature of large urban developments on small communities.

By moving from intricate detail to increasingly simplified, monolithic forms, the sequence conveys how large urban developments can visually and physically overwhelm the smaller-scale, distinctive elements that give a community its unique character and personality. The series of drawings create a narrative that allows the viewer to empathise and relate to the concept of modernist urban development’s overshadowing and displacing the unique historic character and small independent businesses that make up communities.