The 4 October meeting was given to Hamish Stewart’s project ‘Hackney Wick a landscape in transition’.

Hamish’s presentation explored several elements of the landscape of Hackney Wick from the old warehouses and factories that have now gone – replaced by new housing developments, to the footprint of the old tower blocks of the Trowbridge Estate. The presentation sought to explore the memory of what used to be here, and the traces left in the landscape of those memories. The presentation also challenged us to consider what this landscape will look like in five years from now.

In his introductory notes Hamish said:

‘Hackney Wick was a centre of innovation in the late 19th and early 20th Century. In the 90s it was a space for artists and illegal raves – and the location of the tower blocks of the Trowbridge Estate immortalised in their destruction in the mid 90s. Now the London Olympic Legacy Corporation Master Plan is informing the creation of a new district. Through all this change streetscapes and landmarks have changed and it is easy to lose track of what used to be here.’