Flowering field with a dancing and dipping row of willow trees
The gentle slope of the park landscape is accentuated by planting bands of wildflowers across it, and the course of the Goresbrook is marked by a dancing and dipping row of pollarded willows on a raised bund.
The enjoyment of the place is a seasonal delight with spring blossom, summer bands of wildflowers and autumnal colour. Picnic lawns were established with wooden decks, benches, table tennis tables and a grassed mound shaped as a bench for lounging.
Local skaters worked with the design team to create a new practice skate area, and a youth project initiated a 5-a-side football tournament and a music project. Community engagement involved people in planting trees and wildflower meadows, and cleaning the stream.
The second Phase uses the concept of a field of drumlins (landscape forms created by glacier movement). Local people discovered the possibilities of stone and boulders by visiting quarries in the north of England. These group visits, lead by artist Andrew Darke, resulted in the selection of particular stones to be used in the park.
2004–2006
Barking and Dagenham, London
Client
A13 Artscape
Value
£700,000
Artist
Andrew Darke
Arts Coordinator
Sian Weston
Geoff Wood
Collaborating Organisation
A13 Artscape
Groundwork Hackney
Engineer
Cameron Taylor Bedford
Flowering field with a dancing and dipping row of willow trees
