Saying yes gets you to interesting places……
Recently, it brought me to an empty, rundown, decommissioned courthouse for a tour and a discussion with Wayne Hemingway.
The theme is SeaSide Revival which can nourish the various sectors that make up Bangor, Northern Ireland.
“Good Design is as little design as possible” - Deiter Rams ”
Wayne talked through his vision of what the urban design of Bangor could be... it would need to be simple, small micro-movements, with some key infrastructure to maintain them and provide people with quality experiences.
Simple things, daily litter removal, better parking solutions (not more spaces), maps and guides to what is happening.
The sea, the coast, the seaside town experience, fresh air….doesn’t need hours of discussion or years of consultation and design, and millions of pounds of investment, it needs clarity of thought supported by simple design.
As Wayne stated “ the best regeneration comes from culture”. The creative sector can reconnect people to the water, to the place, enable them to rediscover the coast through bespoke creative experiences….. an app, story-telling, a piece of art, a product that provokes memories, an experience… seeing these things appear, remain and become part of the vocabulary of the town ,inspires confidence in others and provide a fab experience to make a day trip to Bangor a lovely one.
Sometimes, it takes someone on the outside to see clarity. Wayne has permission to critique past decisions… removing “ the god given right to free car-parking”, taking back the space that is choked by town centre workers parking and giving it to the community as a space for leisurely pursuits by the coast, is a simple action, that will solve a number of problems. Moving the car park from A to B. Where A is currently free parking, blocking the connection to the coast and B is a currently empty multi-story attached to the zombie apocalypse shopping centre, will revive the footfall in the shopping centre and attract some key retailers back.
The model put forward was “ A Jacobs Joint” - A shared meal - where everybody brings something and puts it on a table for people to help themselves.
..but these mini-events ... beach cleans, drink&draws, food tasting nights, poetry readings, drawing classes, dash & dunks, cookie night are happening in the town already, they are being delivered by the hard-workers who want to get shit done!
What is missing is the good infrastructure and the ability to tell everyone about it. What is missing is a clear, on message communication from our town, inviting other people to come to our town and we do not need to wait to share this message.
The seeds are there and they are begining to germinate love & pride for our place.