SOCIAL CARPET IN A MACHINE -LIKE CITY

by Iman Keaik

A city, buzzing by the day and sleeping in the afternoon, a machine at the heart of a business district edging people out and create segregation. Challenging Thatcherism ideologies by designing the ‘social carpet’ in a way it cannot only reutilise and readapt the business district but also incorporate inclusive spaces to slow down the pace of the city. A ‘Social Carpet’ is overlaid in Canary Wharf to grow the social bond and provide equal opportunities for people to inhabit, participate and work in the city. Like any carpet, when touched with respect, the rhythm of walking is slowed down, when used to collectively gather around it, the collectiveness rises in a get-together environment by weaving the spaces together, when flipped, hidden stitches can be revealed as the hidden communities in the city, when using a carpet in a versatile function, it can give freedom by softening the rigid system.