Road Trip to the Moon
Metropolitan Workshop and Charlie Whinney Associates have collaborated on an installation for the London Festival of Architecture 2008, which will be displayed in the Cowcross Street office window from 18th June to 20th July. The piece of work is designed and constructed using Charlie’s method of steam-bent timber and explores themes of urbanism and infrastructure.
Road Trip to the Moon aims to engage the public in discussions on sustainable growth and the use of roads in urban areas. How will our cities respond to the phenomenal growth in urban population and increased pressures on the environment seen over recent generations? Relieving some of these pressures relies on how our cities can respond to higher densities and transportation issues.
The installation recounts the fact that if all public UK roads were laid end to end they could span to the moon and beyond. Only 40% of these roads are within urban areas, with all other roads serving as rural roads, commuter links and national connectors.
The earth, moon and length of road are built in proportions to each other at a scale of 1:10000. They reflect a distance of 384,403km between the earth and moon and 388,008km length of public roads.
The high ratio of roads in areas of low densities illustrates an opportunity for intensification along the existing road networks. The capacity to optimize linear growth around existing infrastructure can contribute significantly to the current thinking on the expansion of sustainable cities.
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