- CollegeLondon College of Communication
- CourseMA Graphic Media Design
- Graduation year2024
This woven tapestry utilizes the methodology of "counter-mapping" - the practice of mapping "against dominant power structures to reclaim stories and memories of place" (Counter Mapping 2021) - to challenge the public and political narratives of decay and crime around South London's Aylesbury Estate through a collection of tenant stories.
A companion book accompanies the woven counter-map to make legible the full collection of tenant quotes with the support of images from 60 years of Aylesbury history and artwork.
Final work
Wikipedia's default photo of the Aylesbury Estate comprises the warp, emphasizing scale and external perception. Most work on the Aylesbury Estate fixates on the massive deteriorating facade as a spectacle of "deprivation".
The internal tenant experience acts as a running counter-narrative along the weft. It challenges the stigma imposed on the Aylesbury and its residents with complex stories of love, community, struggle, and grief.
The nature of woven strands conveys the fragility and interconnectedness of the memories and community of the Aylesbury.
Companion Book
Booklet of full collection of tenant quotes gathered by researchers, activists, journalists, and tenants themselves.
From the book and namesake of this project:
“It transcended its architecture. It was a place where many friendships were formed, where many important conversations were had. These houses had been built on it. They had been built on my memories...
I felt like they had displaced something that was so significant to me and my friends.” TYRELL WILLIAMS, former Aylesbury Estate resident
Research and process
MA GMD Woven Tapestry Process
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