Prototypes for future cities: Kings Cross 2050
OUR VISION
OxfordDS6 delves into the topic of future cities, looking at the longer-term impact of our industry and creating projects that challenge existing conditions in dense urban centres. Supported by a team of experts in their field, our studio uses interdisciplinary systems thinking, novel technologies, innovation and data-driven strategies as its core philosophy. Our vision is to design proposals that aim to define the new urban metabolism for the generation to come, by 2050.
NARRATIVE
Kings Cross, 2050
What will our cities look like in 2050 if our societies hit all UN sustainable development goals? What if they don’t? How will city centres need to evolve in the coming decades to respond to demographic changes? What will they need to do to reach net zero targets governments are committed to? Our studio examines these questions by creating experimental designs that aim to respond to our future needs.
The Kings Cross masterplan has been delivering on Argent’s “Principles for a Human City” to this day, and the next generation of designers need to continue to plan to ensure its long term sustainability and resilience to changes.
The scale of present issues our inner cities face require a long-term outlook, along with knowledge from various fields. Our studio believes true sustainability can only be achieved through interdisciplinary thinking.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
- Buckminster Fuller
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Studio leads: Jon Tollit & Denis Vlieghe.
Technology: Yuting Cheng, Sergej Maier, Cristina Garza Lasierra. MPL: Dagmar Binsted.
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Thalia Barrett
Haziq Bin Noor Azhuril
Sophy Botsford
Kin Yeung Ho
Fartun Jimale
Aamir Kundanpurwala
Abdelrahman Mohammed
Jinnah Nasir
Shalom Osuchukwu
Raj Narendra Patel
Dhruvkumar Prajapati
Raafat Raafat
Aston Young
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Lesha Chetty
Aamir Kundanpurwala: “The City of joy”, is a project designed with a few key design strategies to evoke the feeling of Joy and they are as follows; Freedom Surprise Comfort Nature Intimacy and Interaction The City of Joy brings three important aspects of mental well-being and self-actualization together, Community, Learning, and opportunity. The impression made on a growing mind can help shape the mind while growing up. A structure that is supposed to be a civic hub of the neighbourhood, should not just be a place that one used to visit in childhood, or one only visits when they are old but becomes a part of one’s routine while growing up and finds different activities to do at different stages of their age. The section showcases the impact of design on a child, then a young person, a middle-aged person, and an old person and how do they respond in different spaces which are all under the same roof.
Abdelrahman khattab: ‘’Vertical neighbourhoods’’ is showcasing the future of vertical residential buildings in the busy cities where there is not much land offered. The project is a data driving design built on a flexible grid to accommodate the future population of London no matter the number of residents. These neighbourhoods will be driven by the residents who share a common interest, lifestyle and goals.
Abdelrahman khattab: ‘’Vertical neighbourhoods’’ is showcasing the future of vertical residential buildings in the busy cities where there is not much land offered. The project is a data driving design built on a flexible grid to accommodate the future population of London no matter the number of residents. These neighbourhoods will be driven by the residents who share a common interest, lifestyle and goals.
Andrew Ho: Running to the future - The project aims to bring a healthy lifestyle to people in the future. Using running dominate sport to generate a new typology of sports and recreation hub for the local community, encouraging people in King’s Cross, Camden, London, and the UK, to participate in physical exercise to maintain physical and mental health in 2050.
Andrew Ho: Running to the future - The project aims to bring a healthy lifestyle to people in the future. Using running dominate sport to generate a new typology of sports and recreation hub for the local community, encouraging people in King’s Cross, Camden, London, and the UK, to participate in physical exercise to maintain physical and mental health in 2050.
Dhruvkumar Prajapati: Workabode explores inclusive housing/workplace together by providing adaptive and flexible infrastructure. It investigates on Arrangements of different programs in a hybrid manner and creates voids and corridors which can lead to the possibility of connections with spaces rather than the conventional arrangement of Mixed Use.
Dhruvkumar Prajapati: Workabode explores inclusive housing/workplace together by providing adaptive and flexible infrastructure. It investigates on Arrangements of different programs in a hybrid manner and creates voids and corridors which can lead to the possibility of connections with spaces rather than the conventional arrangement of Mixed Use.
Raafat Raafat: The project is one of the prototypes for cities of the future, that aims to address social inequality and achieve economic prosperity, social welbeing by using coss generational knowledge to fuel an innovation movement. A place for all generations to interact and promotes social relationships while offering mutual support; assisting young adults in developing a sense of self-reliance, social responsibility and cohesion within the community. The project questions systematic gentrification happening to city centres. At the same time, the failure in addressing the community needs creates high levels of deprivation - leading to a failure to maintain local culture and identities in a diverse, multi-culture city like London. How to develop a collaborative eco-system using private & public resources for a resilient future?
Raafat Raafat: The project is one of the prototypes for cities of the future, that aims to address social inequality and achieve economic prosperity, social welbeing by using coss generational knowledge to fuel an innovation movement. A place for all generations to interact and promotes social relationships while offering mutual support; assisting young adults in developing a sense of self-reliance, social responsibility and cohesion within the community. The project questions systematic gentrification happening to city centres. At the same time, the failure in addressing the community needs creates high levels of deprivation - leading to a failure to maintain local culture and identities in a diverse, multi-culture city like London. How to develop a collaborative eco-system using private & public resources for a resilient future?
Raj Narendra Patel - Nexus Horizon is a Hybrid Infrastructure which will focus on improving the Mental & Physical Health Wellbeing of the people in King’s Cross 2050. It is a Hybrid proposal for the communities surrounding King’s Cross which will enhance their health, connectivity & daily commuting by creating a community friendly Urban Fabric in King’s Cross
Raj Narendra Patel - Nexus Horizon is a Hybrid Infrastructure which will focus on improving the Mental & Physical Health Wellbeing of the people in King’s Cross 2050. It is a Hybrid proposal for the communities surrounding King’s Cross which will enhance their health, connectivity & daily commuting by creating a community friendly Urban Fabric in King’s Cross
Shalom Osuchukwu: BEYOND THE STIGMA - This mental health retreat aims to acquire a state of mental wellbeing for young people by combining medical facilities with recreational activities using biophilic design strategies. This is to enable young people to reach out and receive mental health help if needs be without the stigma attached to it.
Shalom Osuchukwu: BEYOND THE STIGMA - This mental health retreat aims to acquire a state of mental wellbeing for young people by combining medical facilities with recreational activities using biophilic design strategies. This is to enable young people to reach out and receive mental health help if needs be without the stigma attached to it.
Sophy Botsford: The project aims improve the mental and physical health of our growing population by providing better access to supportive ways of living. This research forms part of an ongoing process that will be developed further in practice. The goal is to publish a framework for co-housing in 2050 that anyone can use to develop their own community.
Sophy Botsford: The project aims improve the mental and physical health of our growing population by providing better access to supportive ways of living. This research forms part of an ongoing process that will be developed further in practice. The goal is to publish a framework for co-housing in 2050 that anyone can use to develop their own community.
Thalia Barrett: The Cloud at Kings Cross is designed for the 200th year anniversary off the opening of Kings Cross Station which will be in 2052. The Retrofit aims to bring a new lease of life to the space through art and culture to accommodate for future uses and demands whilst being minimally intrusive to the existing structure and creating new connections to the existing urban context.
Thalia Barrett: The Cloud at Kings Cross is designed for the 200th year anniversary off the opening of Kings Cross Station which will be in 2052. The Retrofit aims to bring a new lease of life to the space through art and culture to accommodate for future uses and demands whilst being minimally intrusive to the existing structure and creating new connections to the existing urban context.