INTERPRETING BEVAN'S LANDSCAPE: a public art strategy

I N T E R P R E T I N G B E V A N’ S L A N D S C A P E C R E A T I N G A V I S U A L L A N G U A G E A draft public art proposal for Bellway Homes Ltd at Harbour Village, Northfleet, Kent. Commissioned by Art Consultants FrancisKnight This powerfully resonant post-industrial site on the banks of the Thames opposite Tilbury Docks still communicates its legacy via the man-made & visceral landscape left behind. A once dominant, technologically advanced, and all-encompassing cement industry & community laid low. Highly visible clues, such as chalk cliffs, quarries, access tunnels, concrete foundation slabs, deep-water landings, displaced monuments, and a solitary lighthouse create an otherworldly backdrop, which speaks quietly now of legacy, loss and change. We have been here before. Northfleet, Kent, witnessed its agricultural and rural landscape heave and lurch into the industrial age. 19th Century industrial entrepreneurs, such as Knight, Bevan and Sturges, transformed this land and brought social reform and philanthropy alongside invention and industry. The mid-20th Century remodelled and reshaped the business once again to become perhaps the largest & most successful cement industry in Europe of their time. The 21st Century is a different landscape. A hybrid place, reimagined, reengineered, renewed and now replenishing communities through housing development and regeneration. Bellway Homes Ltd (Thames Gateway) Harbour Village, Northfleet, Kent. April – May 2023 High Level Public Art Strategy 2023 Background: FrancisKnight have been appointed by Bellway to produce a high-level Public Art Strategy (PAS) for Phase 3 of their Harbour Village development. The PAS supports the reserved matters application for phase 3 and will be incorporated into the Design and Access statement. The public art proposals are required to be embedded and reflect on the ecology, heritage, and historical use of the site.