Rooting for a new home

"The Wayward Plant Registry is a project of social exchange and botanical desire. A Wayward Plant, commonly referred to as a weed, is one growing where it is not wanted. They may be non-native, unsightly, invasive, high-maintenance, surplus or withering, and so are uprooted and abandoned, pulled from the earth (or pot!) as urban castaways. But wayward plants, whether common weeds, domestic breeds or rare botanical specimens, are truly in the eye of the beholder. The Wayward Plant Registry sets up Halfway Homes for these unwanted plants, and works to bring out the full potential of their beauty and meaning. The Registry considers systems of exchange, the personification of plant-life, the human stories revealed through plant migrations, and the nature of botanical desire."

Sandra found this marvel, oh how it'd be great to collaborate! from her article in Jungle in the Urban Jungle.

WOO-hoo

I checked out the website for 'windows of opportunity' in York and basically we HAVE to get the council on our side! They will help u open all the doors! WOO also had the Museum trust involved. I was thinking if we did go ahead with this n Islington we could see if the Crafts Council (based in Isington) wanted to get involve ?

"Windows of Opportunity is an innovative digital design programme to address the visual impact of empty shops in the York city centre. WOO is a partnership project run by York Museums Trust and supported by Visit York and City of York Council.

WOO will dress empty shop windows with external, high quality vinyls which will feature contemporary digital designs that respond to their setting. The designs will all be chosen from those submitted to this website, so why not have a go?"

www.woo2009.org.uk/

Council Lending Hand

image from Logo Sauce

I found this is the Environment page on the Camden Council and the Islington Council websites, interesting huh? Though I understand that Camden works mainly with the Architecture School at UCL it might be worth a try as the projects they collaborated on so far seem to revolve around the built environment so they might be interested in exploring the possibilities of developing something that is not permanent and that is constantly evolving like our project.

Camden Council

and this is an abstract from the Islington Council website

Islington Council

“The IUDG is a supplementary planning document, which provides design principles and standards for the whole of the borough. It aims to influence:
• how buildings look and fit with their setting
• the layout and organisation of public spaces
• the appearance of street frontages

Urban design is about making better places. There are two underlying elements: places should be pleasing in appearance, and should function properly.

The guide has been organised into three sections, to address both these elements of urban design:

• section one sets out the wider background
• section two addresses the need for new buildings to fit in to their setting and reinforce local distinctiveness
• section three addresses the layout and organisation of places; how spaces and buildings affect the way they are used

The IUDG states the important role of urban design in making connections and identifying shared solutions, which resolve various different, and sometimes competing, demands. In particular, it can positively contribute to community safety and regeneration objectives by designing out crime, and contributing to the economic vibrancy by creating a high quality environment and sense of activity that makes people want to live, work and visit.”

FREE Advise

Just had a look at the Ecca website, they offer three FREE advise and expertise to creative people who want to start their own business and though we haven't decided if our venture is profit or non for profit and even more importantly we haven't tested the idea with a shop and the blog yet I think it's still worth me getting in contact with them for advise, what do you think?

http://www.ecca-london.org/about/advisors/