For 9 weeks, Folly for a Flyover transformed a neglected and unwelcoming motorway undercroft in Hackney Wick into a host space for local residents and visitors alike – attracting over 40,000 visitors in the course of one summer. The Folly proposed a positive future for the site by re-imagining its past – posing as a building trapped under the motorway. Its roof pushing up between the East and Westbound traffic above, Folly for a Flyover hosted an extensive programme of waterside cinema, performance and play delivered in conjunction with the Create Festival, the Barbican Art Gallery and numerous local organisations and businesses.
Like a giant construction-kit, the folly was hand-built with local, reclaimed and donated materials by a team of over 200 volunteers. Having served one purpose, the materials used in its realisation were disassembled at the end of the summer and re-used for new play and planting facilities for a local primary school. Following the success of the Folly, a further 150k was invested in the site by the LLDC, providing the permanent infrastructure for the site to continue as an events and cultural public space.
Folly for a Flyover won Bank of America Myrill Lynch CREATE Art Award, was nominated for Design Museum Designs of the Year 2012, Conde Naste Traveller Awards, was listed in The Observer’s ‘Top Ten Architectural moments of 2011‘. It has been published widely in both national and international press.
