The 2012 Olympics were great. No question. But when the Games rolled into town, loads of football pitches near the stadiums were turned into media centres and parking lots. Losing local sporting facilities to make way for global ones was a PR disaster though, so they were all relocated. But all to one, single East London park - Mabley Green.
The locals were up in arms about their being overrun by football. So me and public works were commissioned by Design for London to create a project that’d stop people complaining, and get them involved in the post-Games transformation of the area instead.
First, residents drew what they’d love to see on the park (other than football). Then we doodled them in epic scale on the Green with the same line-painting equipment used to mark out the dreaded pitches.
As a playful, unexpected conversation-starter, it led to a wider public arts programme across Hackney Wick, and kickstarted plans to turn Mabley Green into the world’s largest edible park!
The project's flyer, with a space where locals could add their drawing.
The finished drawing, with the community's doodles filling the spaces between the football pitches. The shots were taken by a digital camera mounted on a remote-controlled helicopter.
