New Allotments For the City of Glasgow
This project considers the possibility of speculative architecture from the grass roots.
By setting aside land for allotments, creative risk and complex issues of ownership would
be addressed directly. This would be the first comprehensive re-assessment of plot size
and layout since the eighteenth century – a re-think with today’s user in mind.
The introduction of allotments to Bellahouston Park would provide both a response to the
rising demand for such spaces in the city, and present a timely living monument
acknowledging their place in our cultural heritage. By shifting the context of allotments
from the urban outskirts to the centre, questions of value in relation to land, education,
food production and the environment would be addressed.
Allotments are one of the few remaining ‘institutions’ that informally encourage a mix of
age, ethnicity and social background. At the centre of the new plots would be a communal
building with provision for social events, communal eating, tool storage and skills sharing.
A community orchard would be planted providing blossom and fruit, and a number of plots
would be reserved for school and community initiatives. Ecological composing toilets would
be provided.
‘The garden provides a different way to learn. Through it children connect with other things
in life, learn to work cooperatively, learn to be sociable with each other and experience a
chance to be stewards of the land’ – learning by doing and working and contributing on equal
terms with adults.
Downloads:
New Allotments Proposal |pdf 113.4 KB