1.2 Dagenham Sunday Market and Barking town centre

Working primarily in your Project Diary sketchbook, you should be developing an ability to quickly record and analyse architectural, urban and spatial situations. The sketch section and perspectival view are particularly useful, but axonometrics and plans should also be part of your repertoire. We are scaling up from the work in the unit space, and some of the themes remain: think about the relative scale of parts, how a given space is occupied, human scale. Also start to think about urban scale relationships and experiences.

Use photography wisely and intentionally. Think about what is best documented through drawing, and what is recorded in a photo. Think about where the photos will go in your sketchbook and leave space as appropriate. Remember that the Project Diary will be looked at throughout and at the end of the year so it needs to communicate to others as well as being a place to record/develop things for yourself.

Dagenham Sunday Market:
for a few hours each week this corner of the site is packed with visitors - traders and buyers. Its people-oriented hustle and bustle is in stark contrast to the industry and wildness of most of the river edge.
http://www.dagenhamsundaymarket.com/

Barking Town Square:
Barking itself is not part of our main site, but is the nearest town and gives the development area its name. It is an old settlement; Barking Abbey has existed since the 7th century. A major regeneration development in the town centre over the last 5 years has transformed the public realm and inserted new housing, commercial and community buildings into an existing town. The landscaping creates distinct outdoor spaces or rooms between these buildings and plays on expectations of scale and materiality.
http://www.publicspace.org/en/works/e061-barking-town-square/prize:2008
http://www.designforlondon.gov.uk/what-we-do/#/barking-london-road
http://www.muf.co.uk/archives/portfolio/barking-town-square-2
This Is What We Do: a muf manual  [720.922 MUF]

Barking Bathhouse:
a temporary relaxation spa on the edge of the town centre, designed by Something & Son.
http://www.barkingbathhouse.com/
http://createlondon.org/events/barking-bathhouse.html
http://www.somethingandson.com/projects.html

from top: aerial photo showing extent of Dagenham Sunday Market; within the market with the former power station; fairground in Barking town square; the Arboretum at night; Barking Bathhouse relaxation yard