Identity Theme

Localising Material Accessibility During my initial walk through the High Street of Dudley, I noticed an inevitable decline in the area. There were vacant shops, but those open had apparent facade damage. For the area to thrive, there needs to be an aesthetical uplift. Here I began to question how to make the repairs. On the one hand, one could complete a like for like repair with a deep clean to provide a new lease of life to achieve an aesthetical value. Alternatively, the repairs could be a status of where the street aims to be in the future. To achieve a statement, the implementation of repair work needs to stand out. It needs to be futuristic, a bold contrast to the existing. At this point, I decided that after being informed of the damage the built environment has on the climate crisis, only carbon zero/ carbon sequestering materials would be present during repairs. This does not aim to destroy existing buildings but instead carefully implement repairs creating a patchwork effect across the street. This would then grow over time as more repair work is required. Over time, the high street would transform into a zero-carbon environment. The manufacturing and growth of these materials need to be local, so consideration is vital. This provides an opportunity for the site to be a material producer itself.

Diagram Map Aesthetic Architecture Biodiversity Change Climate Community Connection Creatures Decay Doughnut Future Growing Identity Imagination Industry Material Nature Opportunity Pollution Potential Regenerative Sustainable System Transport

Secondary focus old co-op

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Limestone walling

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Opening takes advantage of another classic view

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"A tram travels along Wolverhampton Street in Dudley.."

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Surprising survival Little Barrel Pub

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Good survivals

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Cast iron railings lost on south side

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The whole High Street would be dug out to make way for this new kind of “street”. The idea, as stated, is to alter the way that people use this street, so that they can learn about the legacy of Dudley. This would mean that there would be a canopy that sits on top of the cut, that would also act as a means to shelter everything underneath, but would also be made in Dudley to promote local craftsmans. This canopy can then hold something like Theatre Curtains with the history of Dudley presented on them. As you walk through the cut, you go through all the different parts of Dudley’s Legacy - Saxon, Middle Ages, Industrial Revolution, Modern, and you would end the walk on the “Future”. You would start at one end, up by the top church, and as you walk through towards the market place, you would walk through the eras in chronological order. Then, once you exit the tunnel, you would leave the Modern era, and come out into the reclaimed green space, which would represent the future of Dudley’s Legacy. This would be a Miyawaki Forest that would be expanded out through the streets, taking over the spots where cars used to drive, to now benefit Dudley, it’s people, and the world as a whole. Dudley’s High Street is about 240 metres long, about 9 metres wide, and rises about 8 metres. This would provided a very prominent feature for the High Street if it was dug out and recommissioned. An added aspect to the dug out street would be that of the canopy that would reside above it. While thinking of the design, two ideas stood out - one that would stand raised, at about the same level as the end of the street, which would create this arcade styled archway that would reside high above the street. The second was having the canopy be flush with the pavement all the way up, except at the end that would then provide a small increase around the steps. Both ideas serve the same purpose, but provide drastically different means of doing so.

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Some good 18 + 19C facades but in poor condition

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Concept Model - The model represents the idea of digging into the High Street itself. The idea was to drastically alter the form of the High Street to a point that it altered the ways that people in Dudley would live their day-to- day, changing the theatre of their lives, so that they could learn about their own history, their legacy, and about the endless possibilities of Dudley’s future. The idea was inspired by the word “Cut”, which in Black Country Dialect means “Canals”, as they were long cuts through the land. Dudley’s fountain represents the Middle Ages, showing the growth of Dudley over time. While it was the Capital of the Black Country (and still is), the Middle Ages is when Dudley saw itself come into it’s own place, being recognised as a big market town, and slowly expanding it’s territories and influence. The Castle represents the Dudley Castle, built in the 11th Century. Ruling over the land, the Castle is a key component of the Legacy of Dudley, sitting on the highest point for miles around, rich with history, from Being demolished twice, to the civil war, to now watching over the Zoo. The factories represent the Industrial Revolution era of Dudley, a time when Dudley was the king of England, and basically ran the entire process. It was an important aspect of Dudley’s Legacy, and sits as probably its crowning glory - even if today we can recognise the disastrous affects it had on the world in the short period of time the era passed. The Market represents the modern day. Dudley has seen better years, but it is with this project that I propose that even better ones are just around the corner. While people don’t look fondly at Dudley, those from there have a fierce dedication to the legacy of Dudley, which hopefully will burn to a brighter future.

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Bin - can hardly see the Dudley coat of arms (didn’t notice it before) - dripping ice-cream down the side.

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Loss of firm enclosure but still just about maintains the spatial flow

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Dudley market had had very few black traders this is Pitshuo is from Congo and her business is RPA fabrics and hair. She has journeyed from Congo to Dudley high street.

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Shop fronts are mostly reds and blues

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View story

In this picture from 1914 in Dudley, you can just make out my grandfather. He's the small boy with the cap running across Wolverhampton Street in the days when the trams were still running. Years later we worked out that this day was probably a defining moment in his life, the day he chose never to have a second thought or to be bullied by others. You can see him running. This is because he had stolen the ham you can see him carrying under his arm. This one action started a chain of events for my grandfather that would go on to dominate his formative years. Petty larceny, theft, criminal activity that would shape him, turn him into one of the most notorious villains in the Black Country. When he died in 1972, this photograph turned up amongst his possessions, in a locked drawer of his bureau. We agreed amongst us that no one in the family had ever seen this photo before, curious as to its importance to him. On the back of the photo he had written the date and time, together with a brief note - "Me stealing ham from W.Smiths, butcher". He would have been 10 years old and this was perhaps his first, or at least one of his first criminal acts. We have no idea who took the photograph or how he had come to have the original print in his possession, but it appears that it held some significance for him as he kept it all of his life locked away in his bureau drawer.

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TOO MUCH TRAFFIC! But the street must have vitality without it

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The Gift represents the two different typologies of building and its facade located on the High Street. One resembles St. Thomas Top Church and the other is the common modern building facade. The design of High Street buildings has evolved throughout the period. Its use, materiality, construction technique etc. The High Street has always represented a role as a commercial and social hub. The concentration of public on the High Street provides the opportunities to designers to showcase creativity and innovation in design which impacts on visitors. We can say in other words, an ‘Exhibition’ of evolution of buildings in a row. So, facade plays a key role as it reflects the local identity of the town and its culture. So I did a little experiment to understand the street in the form of juxtaposition of facade by placing two different typologies of buildings located on the street. The voids on the facade have changed and adapted to more convenient rectilinear shapes during the past few decades. The model made of plain paper can represent the periodical difference in buildings to which people of the High Street can easily relate and take a place within their memory.

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Cast iron railings good survival

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Why put a multi-storey car park with access from the narrowest street in the town?

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Roller shutters

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"Dudley's Edwardian Market Place pictured around 1905."

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Section loss of firm original enclosure

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Ryan is the owner of Slick Barbers he was born and grew up in Dudley and has been a long standing black business owner on Dudley High Street. He opened his shop when he was in his late teens and continues to be a role model in Dudley's Black community.

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Good details survive

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This graffiti image is on the wall at ACCN- Dudley African Caribbean Network, I would like to know how and when this was created. One Love is a reference to a Bob Marley song and is written in the image.

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"Dudley High Street in the early 1900s."

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Cheap modern infill

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Space escapes thro' set back corner splay for traffic sightline has spoilt the street intimacy

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This gift was created to highlight different points in the social spaces on the high street. Aspects that we can improve on and celebrate. One point found was to incorporate more green spaces to improve health and wellbeing. The other to celebrate the textures and embossings in Dudley’s early ironworking. These ornaments were created by melting sweets and printing patterns onto them.

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Bank - good principal focus for view down

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Secondary focus old cinema

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Fountain comes into view

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Loss or original building line enclosure too much horizontality

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The main structure would have various spaces such as the Museum space, possibly a place that people can pin up local activities, and maybe rooms for either changing or for performance practice. As the street is 11m wide on average, there is plenty of space to have the building fill the space. As the sunlight comes from mainly the south, the south side buildings often shadow the street entirely, which would mean that something being built (especially as it will be dug down a bit) would not shadow out the other buildings. The biggest hurdle to tackle is that the space shouldn’t not feel overwhelming to the other shops or those who walk down the pavement. Because of this, most of the building’s structure would be in the underneath area, and only parts of it would pop out over the pavement. As the design would be flush with the pavement, there are also opportunities to have crossing bridges that are both useful by the public, but also incorporated with the design of the new street. The back of the street would create a unique space for social activities. The space is wide enough and long enough for a performance theatre space to be erected there, but it also has the possibility of having some kind of altered shape to the area, like a raised platform that could house seating and other social activities. However, the space can also perfectly fit a fully regulated tennis court, badminton court, and volley ball court. People have mentioned that there is also a lack of sport engagement in the area, so this could be used to provide that kind of space.

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A collage response to a Co.LAB gift for the High St - “It was nice to be able to use the image for something else. It made me think about placing the cut-out roadmap onto a slightly brighter future version, with colour, vibrancy and plantlife, so that it reminds me what we are heading towards, but still with a hark back to the people and the industry that made Dudley the town it is...”

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Good granite curbs (but not local stone)

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I was asked about what I was doing [asked them what they think is beautiful] Old lamp posts giving the town some character

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Top Church spire focal point

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Dudley young people of black ethnicity worked together to put on a Fashion Talent and History show to celebrate Black heritage and fashion for Jamaican Independence day 2021. This show took place at the African Caribbean Centre in Dudley.

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Limestone kerbs in Vicar St

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Trad ground materials + patterns

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The classic Dudley view up to spire of Top Church

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