Interview

    Why did you select Granary Square? What does it represent to you or to the city, or why is it that you’re keen to see it reoccupied?

We chose Granary Square because we love the water feature – the fountains, the mist, how it cools people in the increasingly hot summers of London.

Water is important to us because we both grew up by the sea in Beirut, Lebanon, and Mangalore, India. We have both spent quite a lot of time at Granary Square just relaxing by the water fountain and canal, having a few drinks, lunches or dinners, and going to the exhibitions and on shopping excursions. We love how versatile this location is, and brings out the true London summer spirit.

    How did you approach the space?

Before Coronavirus, people approached the square with abandon: on a hot day, you will find kids in swimsuits, mothers with towels, loud conversations, hushed whispers, and people passing through the square with insouciance, from breakfast to dinner. We loved the usage of the water feature as a makeshift pool. We know very well that this abandon is unlikely to return anytime soon, but we wanted to capture its chaos, freedom, as well as its elasticity. We see this square as very much a live space: with voices, sounds and movements, and a changing atmosphere throughout the day, along with the weather changes.

    What tactics did you use to help encourage social distancing?

When we visited the site to work out what exactly was equivalent to 2m, we discovered that the individual fountain jets sat on a 50cm grid, making the distance between every 4 jets equivalent to 2 meters. We decided then to stretch the inbuilt grid to fill the square and to derive our graphic language from the grid we found.

We positioned every dot on a two-meter distance from the other and played with shapes, sizes and colour to capture the movement of water, the flexibility of usage and the true London energy of a hot summer day. Because people sometimes sit on the floor, or linger in one spot, we wanted to create distinct islands thus used graphical shapes to pinpoint these areas. These are one or two meters in diameter, carrying a greeting line about love or friendship which on occasions have words that are non-translatable. We placed these lines without translation, as we wanted to invite the public to take on the task of deciphering and conversing to work out their meaning, and in doing so, celebrate the diversity of London and strengthen a sense of community. We are still collecting lingo and greetings in foreign languages, so if you have suggestions please feel free to let us know!

    How might this approach, or space, evolve over time or be adaptable to different levels of needed distancing?

We were hoping that when the level of social distancing decreases the water jets come back on in select places, and we can easily adapt our seating islands to accommodate this – perhaps we might end up with misty and dry islands and adapt our lingo to the context. With this format, instead of telling people what to do, the space lends them a choice of where to sit, what lingo to engage with.

    Were there any particular inspirations?

The installation of Art+com titled Duality, in Tokyo, is a good example of simulating water where there is none and suggesting a feeling of curiosity and delight. We also love how Yayoi Kusama creates these incredible installations that create instant joy when you see her work in a physical space.

    Did you aim for your work to be site-specific, or to offer a widely replicable solution?

Seeing our focus on the fountain grid system, our idea is very much location-specific. The rest is more intuitive. The lingo used on the graphic islands is the language of Londoners; we wanted to celebrate the variety of people who reside in or travel to the UK, and provide them with a sense of belonging. The system is simple and versatile that it can be adapted to any space in cities with diverse culture.

    What, for you both, is the importance of public space?

Samar grew up in Beirut, at a chaotic time when public spaces were practically non-existent. Even to this day, there are still few and far between. To us, occupied thriving public spaces are a sign of the wellbeing of a community. Empty deserted public spaces are a sign of fear and anxiety. Safety, in our experience, is key for people to occupy a public space. It is the ingredient that can make them swing one way or the other – if people feel safe, they feel compelled to take advantage of urban spaces more freely. The nature of this virus is that it is somehow abstract and invisible – so that threat to safety can sometimes feel not so immediate.

Public spaces are places of connection, conversation, freedom, and community spirit. Although the pandemic brought everything to a halt, now that the lockdown is being eased, we expect public spaces to fill up quickly – especially the wide-open large ones, such as Granary Square. People are bored and tired of being indoors; pubs and restaurants will still be higher risk activity due to the shared tactile areas. So, the openness of public spaces will recoup some of the crowd we see outside pubs in the summer days in London although circulation may remain local.

    Did you apply lessons from other projects your agency has worked on to this challenge?

Samar has worked a lot in theatre, as she designed six stage sets for performances that toured a multitude of festivals. The challenge was always to adapt the design intention to the space available so her work in theatre increased her sensibility to space and perception of space. Another consideration learned and applied here was cost-effectiveness, so our choice of an easily replicable system that was open and cost-effective was deliberate.

Sthuthi’s design practice has focused on intuitive design and fine execution of printed matter for the arts and cultural sectors. Growing up in India, colours and materials play an integral part of her design process.

Combining both our diverse experiences, we have achieved a warm and practical intervention to the current cold environment.

    How do you think your approach might be applied to other spaces?

With airports and train stations we can perhaps introduce a digital element to dial up the calming effect of water. We also see a huge synergy with areas of travel that naturally allow the circulation of people, as our usage of language and international lingo.

    Aside from public spaces, are there other spaces, services, or things that need design attention, as we address this public health crisis?

We believe there should be focused attention now on mental health. Research shows that happiness is directly correlated with the quality of human connection, and since our connections and the way we relate to each other has been disrupted, we think it is highly likely to see higher levels of unhappiness and discontent in the coming years.

    Any thanks to specific team members or collaborators?

Yes, we would like to thank all our friends and network who helped us identify the slang used in the variety of languages, Miguel Desport for lending us his talent on a weekend, Pedro Gama for photography and architectural consultancy, and Sebastian for proofreading, and to each other for making this fun to work on. We will be looking to do more projects together in the future, especially that we feel the design community in London could do with a bit more POC and female creative power.

Our concept adopts the two-meter grid of the thousand water jets set in London’s Granary Square, that on a hot summer day turn it into a lively urban beach.

We wanted to maintain the sense of abandon of crowds mingling pre-COVID, enjoying the energy, as well as the freshness the water brings – so we used colour, scale, and the lingo of friendship and warmth from around the world. The result is a pattern of versatile graphic islands, some populated with phonetic greetings to encourage conversations about culture and meaning, and in doing so, strengthen our community spirit.

Interview

    Why did you select Granary Square? What does it represent to you or to the city, or why is it that you’re keen to see it reoccupied?

We chose Granary Square because we love the water feature – the fountains, the mist, how it cools people in the increasingly hot summers of London.

Water is important to us because we both grew up by the sea in Beirut, Lebanon, and Mangalore, India. We have both spent quite a lot of time at Granary Square just relaxing by the water fountain and canal, having a few drinks, lunches or dinners, and going to the exhibitions and on shopping excursions. We love how versatile this location is, and brings out the true London summer spirit.

    How did you approach the space?

Before Coronavirus, people approached the square with abandon: on a hot day, you will find kids in swimsuits, mothers with towels, loud conversations, hushed whispers, and people passing through the square with insouciance, from breakfast to dinner. We loved the usage of the water feature as a makeshift pool. We know very well that this abandon is unlikely to return anytime soon, but we wanted to capture its chaos, freedom, as well as its elasticity. We see this square as very much a live space: with voices, sounds and movements, and a changing atmosphere throughout the day, along with the weather changes.

    What tactics did you use to help encourage social distancing?

When we visited the site to work out what exactly was equivalent to 2m, we discovered that the individual fountain jets sat on a 50cm grid, making the distance between every 4 jets equivalent to 2 meters. We decided then to stretch the inbuilt grid to fill the square and to derive our graphic language from the grid we found.

We positioned every dot on a two-meter distance from the other and played with shapes, sizes and colour to capture the movement of water, the flexibility of usage and the true London energy of a hot summer day. Because people sometimes sit on the floor, or linger in one spot, we wanted to create distinct islands thus used graphical shapes to pinpoint these areas. These are one or two meters in diameter, carrying a greeting line about love or friendship which on occasions have words that are non-translatable. We placed these lines without translation, as we wanted to invite the public to take on the task of deciphering and conversing to work out their meaning, and in doing so, celebrate the diversity of London and strengthen a sense of community. We are still collecting lingo and greetings in foreign languages, so if you have suggestions please feel free to let us know!

    How might this approach, or space, evolve over time or be adaptable to different levels of needed distancing?

We were hoping that when the level of social distancing decreases the water jets come back on in select places, and we can easily adapt our seating islands to accommodate this – perhaps we might end up with misty and dry islands and adapt our lingo to the context. With this format, instead of telling people what to do, the space lends them a choice of where to sit, what lingo to engage with.

    Were there any particular inspirations?

The installation of Art+com titled Duality, in Tokyo, is a good example of simulating water where there is none and suggesting a feeling of curiosity and delight. We also love how Yayoi Kusama creates these incredible installations that create instant joy when you see her work in a physical space.

    Did you aim for your work to be site-specific, or to offer a widely replicable solution?

Seeing our focus on the fountain grid system, our idea is very much location-specific. The rest is more intuitive. The lingo used on the graphic islands is the language of Londoners; we wanted to celebrate the variety of people who reside in or travel to the UK, and provide them with a sense of belonging. The system is simple and versatile that it can be adapted to any space in cities with diverse culture.

    What, for you both, is the importance of public space?

Samar grew up in Beirut, at a chaotic time when public spaces were practically non-existent. Even to this day, there are still few and far between. To us, occupied thriving public spaces are a sign of the wellbeing of a community. Empty deserted public spaces are a sign of fear and anxiety. Safety, in our experience, is key for people to occupy a public space. It is the ingredient that can make them swing one way or the other – if people feel safe, they feel compelled to take advantage of urban spaces more freely. The nature of this virus is that it is somehow abstract and invisible – so that threat to safety can sometimes feel not so immediate.

Public spaces are places of connection, conversation, freedom, and community spirit. Although the pandemic brought everything to a halt, now that the lockdown is being eased, we expect public spaces to fill up quickly – especially the wide-open large ones, such as Granary Square. People are bored and tired of being indoors; pubs and restaurants will still be higher risk activity due to the shared tactile areas. So, the openness of public spaces will recoup some of the crowd we see outside pubs in the summer days in London although circulation may remain local.

    Did you apply lessons from other projects your agency has worked on to this challenge?

Samar has worked a lot in theatre, as she designed six stage sets for performances that toured a multitude of festivals. The challenge was always to adapt the design intention to the space available so her work in theatre increased her sensibility to space and perception of space. Another consideration learned and applied here was cost-effectiveness, so our choice of an easily replicable system that was open and cost-effective was deliberate.

Sthuthi’s design practice has focused on intuitive design and fine execution of printed matter for the arts and cultural sectors. Growing up in India, colours and materials play an integral part of her design process.

Combining both our diverse experiences, we have achieved a warm and practical intervention to the current cold environment.

    How do you think your approach might be applied to other spaces?

With airports and train stations we can perhaps introduce a digital element to dial up the calming effect of water. We also see a huge synergy with areas of travel that naturally allow the circulation of people, as our usage of language and international lingo.

    Aside from public spaces, are there other spaces, services, or things that need design attention, as we address this public health crisis?

We believe there should be focused attention now on mental health. Research shows that happiness is directly correlated with the quality of human connection, and since our connections and the way we relate to each other has been disrupted, we think it is highly likely to see higher levels of unhappiness and discontent in the coming years.

    Any thanks to specific team members or collaborators?

Yes, we would like to thank all our friends and network who helped us identify the slang used in the variety of languages, Miguel Desport for lending us his talent on a weekend, Pedro Gama for photography and architectural consultancy, and Sebastian for proofreading, and to each other for making this fun to work on. We will be looking to do more projects together in the future, especially that we feel the design community in London could do with a bit more POC and female creative power.