Eric Wong’s vision of “a truly United Kingdom” is conveyed in the project “Cohesion.” Wong, a graduate of the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, crafts a response to the Rockefeller Foundation’s challenge to 100 cities to build stronger and more inclusive economies for the good of all.
Some of the ideas conveyed in Wong’s image include redistributing water, energy, and food across the British Isles, as well as better integration of gardening and other eco-friendly practices. Houses easily arise across the landscape to provide new homes for refugees and others in need. In this scenario, building a new capital altogether solves several of the problems facing congested, flawed London. This new place would be in the geographical center of the United Kingdom.
“‘Cohesion’, the new capital city of the United Kingdom is located at the centre of the British Isles–the Isle of Man,” Wong writes. “It is the speculative driver and investigative model to cultivate accessibility, green sustainability and compassion. The narrative aims to re-unite an arguably broken Britain in the 21st century, providing for the disenfranchised generation within the UK and the increasing dislocated global communities.”
Matias Bechtold uses cardboard, plastics, and objects found around a home to erect intricate cityscapes. One of the most dazzling aspects of Bechtold’s work is how he’s able to use packaging materials and even vacuum cleaners to create texturally convincing skylines. In an architectural sense, the artist is also playing with what’s possible within the future of that industry.
