ABSTRACT
Barking Town Square was presented in the exhibition Feminist Practices when only half completed, when the arboretum stage 2 of the project was only an illustration. Barking is a place with a history, the site of a seventh century abbey, industry and then high postwar unemployment, until it became the site of grand plans for the Thames Gateway, an extension of London with Barking as a new town centre with a new town square. The two parts of the new square, open hard-landscaped room and arboretum are conjoined with a set of steps which extend as a stage, with power, water and internet access. This instant ruin is a composition of architectural salvage, built drawing on the expertise of the master bricklayers of Barking College. Muf were responsible for the public realm for a commercial mixed-use development that included street level council offices and a library, classrooms and caf with housing above.
