"Mind the gap

Village Underground is the story of a warehouse, four tube carriages and two freight containers that together have become one of the most exciting places in the London Borough of Hackney.

The Village Underground stands out by solving an overarching problem - that of a creative, but above all inexpensive workspace. Furniture designer Auro Foxcroft started the project in 2007, when he bought four decommissioned subway cars from the Jubilee line for the modest sum of £100. A bargain most would say, if it hadn't cost him £25,000 to transport them. The choice of location was a big decision, but the Victorian warehouse at the junction of Great Eastern St. and Holywell Lane proved to be the right solution. That's because the area is part of a major urban development program in east London - including the borough of Hackney - which has a less than stellar reputation. New office buildings on Bishopgate Avenue, such as Broadgate Tower, demonstrate the area's potential.

The Village Underground consists of two components: the first is the Victorian depot, on the roof of which the four decommissioned wagons and two freight containers have been perched, and the second part of the project. The depot, until recently used as a garage, is now a cultural centre where events, concerts and exhibitions are organized, while the wagons and containers have been converted into an office/workshop. Between 35 and 50 artists, writers, designers, designers, jewelers, architects, photographers and film directors can work in the warehouses.

Office in the subway car

Former spaces of movement, of the contemporary reality of the city, many such elements end up in the scrap heap, although once out of use, these available architectures can be adapted to the most unusual projects. Designer Auro Foxcroft says that this was not an easy fit-out to pull off; removing the chairs and retaining some of the original features, such as the doors opening automatically at the touch of a button, proved more complicated than expected. The other original interior components of the wagons have been kept intact: supporting elements, flooring, driver's cab, etc. The refurbishment is flexible, so that "tenants" can easily customize their space.

The original concept was not to decorate the exterior of the cars with graffiti, but as the graffiti artists, who were careful to redecorate after each cleaning, could not be persuaded to do so, the perpetual change of the exterior facades was accepted.

The designer wanted Village Undreground to be an eco-friendly project: "I believe in reuse before recycling," he says. The offices are also powered by 24PV solar panels.

Articulating these modular volumes has helped the transformation for a wide range of activities. The suspended carriages offer creative freedom

contemporary art without having a predetermined role. By encouraging new ways of communication between artists and the public and alternative approaches to the perception of space, these wagons have become favorite territories for young artists, as they correspond to their needs and aspirations that cultural institutions are not used to. This project stimulates different situations and contexts that go beyond the old rules imposed by the architectural structures of conventional cultural spaces, which tend to encourage passive and consumerist relations of creation. "People come easily into my office, perhaps out of everyday habit," confessed one of the artists who rents a space for 60 pounds a month.

Four years after opening, the Village Underground is financially independent and is a successful example of supporting independent culture. Designer Auro Foxcroft has inspired other green, artistic and social endeavors, which is why the concept is expanding to Berlin and Lisbon. Part of the Trans Europe Halles network, it has become a network hub, as witnessed by the long waiting list to rent office space and the surprising and unusual events taking place in the large ground-floor space.

If there is a culture of living on barges, then why would we underestimate decommissioned subway cars?

Read more at www.villageunderground.co.uk

Photo Bogdan Iurașcu