Make, Don’t Make Do
2012
Make, Don’t Make Do was a year-long strategic design and research project that explored the area around the Bow Interchange and Stratford High Street.
The resultant publication is both a study of the history of the area and a set of opportunistic proposals which suggest ways the by-products of large-scale development could be used to give people living and working around Stratford High Street a hands-on role in the rapid physical, social and economic change going on in their immediate built environment.
The proposals take advantage of the possibilities generated by the development occurring in the area. They range from small additions and alterations to interventions that prompt or force long-term strategic change. As a set, they advocate an approach which uses the area’s rich heritage and diversity of types of use as a source for continued and active enrichment of its future.
Proposals include: the temporary pedestrianisation of Bow Flyover for a sky-high street party; an affordable workspace subsidised by roadside advertising revenue; and a range of suggested uses for many of the large plots of land awaiting development.