The project
Liquid Kingdom is a speculative design proposal for an environmental ‘proving ground’ of landscape and architectural installations, sited on the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. The proposal responds to the island’s unique character and prepares it for the future demands of society and climate change. Taking the form of a model village, Liquid Kingdom sees Sheppey scaled down to 1:20 with the whole model, at approximately 800 x 320 metres, ‘built’ in the island’s southern marshland meadows.
This ‘super-size miniature’ provides a place to see, experience, measure, analyse and enjoy the landscape, bridging the gap between research and local user groups. Part sincere architectural landscape proposal, part whimsy, the project speaks to the British relationship with landscape, the seaside, our nostalgic tendencies, and the anthropogenic impacts of recent times.
What’s being exhibited?
This autumn, a collection of new drawings of test sites will be exhibited at the College of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, showcasing concepts such as the Sheppey Battery, which buffers electricity from the London Array, Autonomous Pocket Farms, which allow for low impact agricultural development on previously ignored sites, Living Archipelagos to test coastal dwelling conditions and Drone Calibration Ports amongst others.
The exhibition is accompanied by audio recordings of the liminal landscapes of the South East of England by the composer, Mike Challis, a leading artist concerned with recording the natural environment for public installations.
Liquid Kingdom is exhibited in The Ewing Gallery, College of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA until 4 December 2017.
Image: Site G, Origin point mise en abyme model
About Smout Allen
Smout Allen is an architectural research and design practice directed by Laura Allen, Professor of Architecture and Augmented Landscapes and Mark Smout, Professor of Architecture and Landscape Futures at The Bartlett School of Architecture. Their work focuses on the dynamic relationship between the natural and the man-made and how this can be revealed to enhance the experience of the landscape and of architecture.