Premise - A speculative proposal as a commentary on privately owned public spaces and dilemma behind their benefits and cons for the public. This project is contextualized in the private development of coal drops yard, London.

Proposal - The geologic section shows green flora at the top, layers of compression and coal at the bottom. The coal object utilizes the materiality of coal as a form of subtle protest amidst its history as a substance that formed the backbone for pushing forward the industrial revolution. This absurd setting is further defined by POPS, which we interpret as an infinite “privately owned publicly owned privately owned…” drama. Coal is seen as an object that liberates, in an absurd setting through an absurd steampunk social machine.

The event - A chalk art festival. A silent protest through a temporal graffiti festival.
The Black wall - Dividing the site into gathering pockets, the Charred wood walls form the social canvas where people write and protest through chalk, opting a visceral and subtle protest away from the smartphone.
The Absurd Grid - Multiple monotone grids come together in an overlaid radical grid inspired by Branzi’s No stop city. The Absurd grid with its inter dependent mechanical objects serve to continuously erase the canvas i.e. “The Black wall”.

Monotone Grids - The Kale grid with planters representing the green that births the coal becomes the salad bar. The Hearth grid with its nodes become social centres where barbecuing and fireside conversations occur. The Steam grid with its pipes and vents powered by activity of the hearth grid erases the The Black wall by spraying water and steam on the chalked canvas. These form the absurd grid - the gazing authority stifling our voices.
In a society of increasing complexity much like the geologic section, contradictions arise. Tectonic shifts of varied opinions and perspectives across spectrums which never align serve to entertain the coal object - a never ending drama of the void.