Croydon Dragonfly: Runner-Up in The Architects Journal iStreet Competition
Earlier this year, we entered the Architects Journal’s multi-million pound iStreet competition, part of Croydon Council’s exciting £5 billion regeneration scheme. The brief was to envisage and create a way-finding route through Croydon, to take pedestrians from West Croydon station to the iconic Fairfield Halls, which is currently undergoing renovation. We paired with the brilliant architect firm Tate Harmer, lighting specialists Lighting Partners, and the Croydon based Rise Gallery in order to create an innovative, ambitious, technology driven solution that would not only guide people from one location to the other, but would also engage them in all that Croydon has to offer via the power of creative, artistic technology. After months of hard work we were all delighted to be shortlisted within the six finalists, and given the opportunity to present our ambitious idea in front of the panel of judges. Although we weren’t successful, it was fantastic to take part and work with talented, creative people, and our warmest congratulations to the winners.
Below is an excerpt from the article on the Architects Journal that explains more about our idea:
The Croydon Dragonfly is a series of bold artistic way-finding installations that inject a new interactivity into Croydon’s public space while stitching together the existing streetscape.
The installation constitutes an interactive urban periscope which enables users to find out about the town’s future through augmented reality overlays, presenting high-level mixed-reality views where one can hover and zoom into different locations within Croydon. Artistic content will create an interpretive description of future developments, unravelling the unique qualities and exciting future of the surrounding streets. In the evening, the mixed-reality content will be broadcast and projected onto the street façades, animating the buildings with textural lighting and projection mapping.
The system is designed as an open interface, which we encourage local artists to hack, creating a series of original and engaging street installations. These interactions would transcend your normal wayfinding experience, bringing new and exciting art pieces to the streets of Croydon. The Croydon Dragonfly creates an interactive beacon, a symbol of progress for the community and a concept that embraces Croydon’s bid to be the Borough of Culture. It would become instantly recognisable throughout London and the world as a leading contemporary interactive structure, synonymous with its local surroundings and the people who embrace it.
To find out more about the competition, and the winning idea, check out the rest of the article online here: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/croydon-istreet-competition-winner-revealed/10022712.article?blocktitle=Big-picture-story&contentID=13625

