How We Live Now…and in Future.
Newcastle - Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Orchestrated by James Perry (Harper Perry Architects) and compered by Neil Murphy (TOWN) this event was the first for Common Good in Newcastle- a celebration of all things good happening in the north east and a challenge to do better. Hosted at Newcastle Contemporary Art the event shared a space with an exhibition which explored the work of 1980’s feminist architecture co-operative Matrix, alongside contemporary projects looking at gender, accessibility, equality and discrimination. The themes explored in the exhibition helped to set the structure for this Common Good event.
James introduced proceedings talking about the venue and the importance of inclusivity and diversity in city making. James then handed over to Alison Stenning and Sally Watson (NewCycling) who talked about the history and future of Play Streets and the value they can bring to a place- the concept was born out of protests by mothers in the 1970’s who set out to reclaim their streets from the motor car.
Technical challenges followed but Neil masterfully dealt with low laptop battery and a loss of wifi connection without breaking his stride to introduce Julia Heslop, who joined via video link and spoke about the great work of Dwellbeing Sheildfield, a community group from Shieldfield, Newcastle that brings people together from all backgrounds to socialise, share ideas and learn, and to shape change in Shieldfield.
Armelle Tardiveau was the second speaker to join via video link and she spoke passionately about the importance of engagement and collaboration in delivering Fenham Pocket Park which opened in 2016 and provides green space for the Community to gather and to host events in the heart of Fenham.
After a break for refreshments- awesome pies, peas and some fantastic beers- we began a series of talks about future Newcastle. Daniel Dyer (MawsonKerr Architects) featured twice as he spoke about the co-housing CO-HUT (Community Housig Upon Tyne) alongside members of the group, and also presented a plan which showed what could potentially be achieved through reinstatement of streets and densification of the space in Byker between Shields Road and Erskine’s estate, delivering new low carbon homes and enabling people to live within walkable neighbourhoods in close proximity to the Byker Metro station.
Daniel’s presentations sat either side of a fascinating talk by Martin Hulse, the Trust Manager for Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust who explained the value of Newcastle’s heritage and the important role it has to play in shaping Future Newcastle.
To end the event, in true Common good style, Neil chaired a Panel that consisted of Nicholas Boys Smith (Create Streets), James Perry (Harper Perry Architects), Owen Hopkins (the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University), and Pooja Agrawal (Public Practice) to discuss whether Newcastle gets the Built Environment it deserves, concluding that it should, and that it’s in our hands to make sure that it does.