The King's Cross Picnic
As part of the London Festival of Architecture 2012, Squire and Partners co-curated the King's Cross Hub in partnership with The Architecture Festival based on the theme of 'Playful City'. We organised a weekend of activities focussed on 'Urban Actions' to improve forgotten spaces within King's Cross to spur long term change, working with organisations such as The Gagosian Gallery, Wild London, Wolff Olins and The Place dance school, as well as architects and designers.
For our own 'Urban Action' Squire and Partners staged the King's Cross Picnic, transforming a neglected cut-through in St Chad's Place into an inviting picnic garden for the weekend. The event attracted over 500 people who relaxed on deck chairs and custom made grass beds constructed from recycled palettes, topped with picnic baskets bursting with native English flowers. The installation also included swings, bespoke games tables and hourly dance performances from youth dance groups from The Place.
Commissioning Anna Garforth
Having worked previously with Anna Garforth on an installation for the 2010 London Festival of Architecture, we were keen to involve her in our picnic idea. We commissioned Anna to design another railway wall installation, which this time communicated our idea of a green corner of King's Cross in which to stop and relax.
The Design
Following a series of meetings to discuss our ideas, Anna designed a large scale graphic moss installation, hand applied over several hours on the Saturday morning of the picnic weekend. The moss wall provided a striking backdrop which was gradually added to during the weekend by children armed with buckets of chalk.
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