Cairns Street, a mostly derelict Victorian terrace in the Toxteth neighborhood of Liverpool. In the
Cairns Street, a mostly derelict Victorian terrace in the Toxteth neighborhood of Liverpool. In the summer of 1981 the Toxteth neighborhood erupted into nine days of rioting between police and residents, leaving behind an ugly and intractable notoriety. What followed was a 30-year policy of ‘managed decline’ – moving people away and allowing the houses to deteriorate until they needed to be demolished.But a handful stayed. In the winter of 2007 the group, now called ‘That Bloomin’ Green Triangle’, received their first grant and put up a pair of four-metre-tall Norwegian spruce, complete with lights, and smaller trees with solar lanterns in front of the darkened derelict houses.Now they’ve formed the Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust (a not-for-profit organisation run by residents to ensure the restored houses remain affordable) and a social investor, Steinbeck Studio, has brought in a London-based group of young artists and architects, Assemble, who have been working alongside residents to restore some of the houses. An ambitious plan for a Winter Garden within the skeleton of two derelict houses formed the centrepiece of their 2015 nomination for the UK’s most prestigious art award, the Turner Prize. [Update - Assemble won!]A handful of tenacious people sowing seeds and planting flowers in forgotten corners to counteract neglect not of their making has triumphed over three decades of planning policy failure.Via: Gardens Illustrated - http://www.gardensillustrated.com/article/grass-roots-regeneration -- source link
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