Along the Serpentine Water: Transforming Regent’s Canal

Competition Submission for a London "Highline" Sponsored by the Landscape Institute, Mayor of London, and Garden Design.

Throughout the time of industrialized cities, humans engendered to enhance commerce and convey goods. Transport veins like railroads, canals, and roads often resembled a snake’s serpentine path through the urban fabric. History has witnessed these arteries outlive their usefulness and fall into disrepair.

We have chosen the snake as a metaphor for our design to restore Regent’s Canal as a contemporary serpent encouraging nature and community in the city.

The snake in many cultures symbolizes regeneration and the umbilical cord, joining all humans to Mother Earth. It is our intent is to recreate that cord, bringing humans and nature together in an urban setting.

To take the metaphor a step further, we believe that humans and nature, even in the city are living always in union, unable to live without each other. To put it simply: We ARE IT.

Our design seeks to resynthesize this union, bringing physical and mental health benefits for all visitors, whether they have legs, wings, or a belly, transforming an industrial economy to experiential economy.

We propose three opportunities to regenerate this union, mirroring new architecture whose windows now face the canal sporadically along the water.

The design will draw people to the river to stroll, ride bikes, and relax by the water. The landscape will be further enhanced by new host and nectar plants in the left-over spaces and by floating planters to filter pollutants.

We will design transformative landscape- lovely, fun, relaxing, and exciting!