Plan B Forum

The Torre Guinigi in Lucca, Italy, is a brick medieval tower – it’s handsome, but of a type common enough in historic Tuscan cities. What makes it special is a grove of holm oaks growing from its summit. Trees come with expectations, such that they are rooted in the ground, yet there they are, high in the air, apparently flourishing. The tower would be less interesting if it weren’t for the trees and the trees would be less interesting if it weren’t for the tower.



So there’s something compelling about trees in unexpected places. Hence at least part of the appeal of the High Line in New York, where gardens grow on an old elevated railway line, and of the ski slope on top of the Amager Bakke power plant in Copenhagen. There’s been a thing for wrapping towers in vegetation in recent years. Little Island, the micro-park recently created by Thomas Heatherwick over the Hudson, has a similar well-I-never, Instagram-able impact.

London’s Marble Arch Mound, a temporary artificial hill at the point where the end of Oxford Street meets the north-east corner of Hyde Park, is the latest attempt to harness the charm and power of the elevated tree. Visitors will be able to ascend to a viewing platform at the mound’s 25-metre-high summit and then go down into an events space buried inside it. They will see Lightfield, which is billed as “an incredible light exhibition put together by W1 Curates” that “alludes to the mycorrhizal nature of birch tree forests”.

The project has been commissioned by Westminster city council in the hope that it will help bring people, post-pandemic, back to the UK’s most famous shopping street. It is also a figurehead for a larger scheme, called Oxford Street District, which aims to crack what has long been an unsolvable problem, the Fermat’s theorem of town planning: how to make this well-known but none-too-pleasant thoroughfare more enjoyable and civilised. The plans include relatively unglamorous ideas such as part-pedestrianisation and upgrades to paving and planting.

The mound has been designed by MVRDV, a Rotterdam-based practice whose Dutch pavilion for Expo 2000 in Hanover was a multistorey garden with wind turbines on the roof. It was a memorable work, a celebration of the Dutch genius for constructing human-made landscapes, and a pioneer of the modern trend for aerial vegetation. MVRDV also created Tainan Spring in Taiwan, which converted the remnants of a shopping mall into a “lush lagoon”, and the Skygarden in Seoul, where conifers, cherries and maples, their colours changing with the seasons, grow on top of an old highway overpass.

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London’s Marble Arch Mound, a temporary artificial hill . . .

It was supposed to boast glorious views of the capital from a lush, human-made hill in order to tempt shoppers back to central London, but now refunds are being offered to customers who bought tickets for a trip up the £2m Marble Arch Mound.

Westminster city council confirmed refunds were being given out after the project suffered “teething problems” which left its artist’s impression looking nothing like the rather limp reality – leading to a torrent of ridicule on social media.

The council said it would offer anybody who had booked a visit during the first week another ticket free of charge so that they could enjoy “the full experience” – once the landscape had “had time to bed in and grow”.

Visitors who booked in advance will be refunded the ticket fee – between £4.50 and £8 for adults – which provides an opportunity to climb the structure. Such an “experience”, the council claimed, would entice shoppers back to Oxford Street – an area that has had 17% of its shops close for good during the pandemic.

A statement on the council’s website confirmed the refunds, while reminding visitors that the mound is “a living building by design”.

“We’ll continue to adapt and improve London’s newest outdoor attraction and resolve any teething problems as they emerge,” it read. “We’re sorry for the delay and look forward to welcoming visitors when they’re ready to enjoy all the mound has to offer.”

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesig ... ed-refunds

The Marble Arch Mound has shut after just two days after it was slammed as 'Sh*t Hill' and 'the worst attraction in London'.

The £2million artificial hill on Park Lane was closed yesterday morning to everyone except those who had already paid for tickets - costing between £4.50 and £8 - online in advance.

City of Westminster Council admitted it was 'clear that it is not ready' but failed to explain why it opened on Monday when it was not finished.

It comes after it emerged families living near the mound begged authorities to 'end this madness' before it was even built.

Stunned taxpayers implored councillors to turn down the planning application for the 25m grass and scaffolding monstrosity in February.

One branded it an 'absolute waste of money', while another assessed it as 'a disgraceful and unwanted piece of temporary nonsense'.

Others thought it would attract more crime to the area, while a further local homeower said 'It's ill-thought through, costly and ill-timed'.

Further objections, put their thoughts more simply, imploring the council to 'end this madness and spend public money much more wisely'.

Visitors in August won't have to pay to go up the much-ridiculed Marble Arch Mound when it reopens on Monday.

Westminster Council has already apologised for the botched launch of the £2million artificial hill, which closed last week after just two days.

Tourists were charged up to £8 to climb the 82ft mound, which was billed as offering lush greenery and views across central London.

But visitors slammed the attraction, describing it as just a heap of scaffolding with turf and some trees.
Yesterday, the council's Labour leader Adam Hug said it had 'brought shame on Westminster across the world'.

He called on the council to say why the mound was allowed to open and how much it will cost taxpayers in total. Westminster Council was contacted for comment.

Last week, Westminster Council's chief executive Stuart Love said in a statement: 'We're very sorry that the Marble Arch Mound wasn't ready for visitors when it opened earlier this week.

'London's businesses and residents have suffered through the pandemic and we built the Mound as part of our bigger plan to get people back into the City and into the shops, restaurants, theatres and to see the amazing sights the West End has to offer.

'We wanted to open the Mound in time for the summer holidays and we did not want to disappoint people who had already booked tickets.

'We made a mistake and we apologise to everyone who hasn't had a great experience on their visit.

'With that in mind we're going to make The Mound free for everyone to climb throughout August.'

He added: 'We are very much looking forward to welcoming visitors back so they can enjoy everything London has to offer and can make their mind up about the Mound.'

The 82-ft tall mound, planned by Dutch architect company MVRDV, was designed to give views of the capital's Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Mayfair and Marylebone.

It is part of a scheme to increase footfall in the shopping district as lockdown restrictions ease.