London's premier multidisciplinary culture agency Futurecity visited Ram Quarter earlier this week with artist Neville Gabie.  Present at the visit were Futurecity Associate Alessandra Grignaschi, who helped coordinate and arrange the visit, and Futurecity's Founder and CEO Mark Davy, Director of Placemaking Andy Robinson, and Curatorial Director Sinead McCarthy.  The guest of honour at the visit was artist Neville Gabie, who had been appointed to work on Ram Quarter's cultural implementation plan while the site was under development.  Greenland was keen to include a public art initiative as an acknowledgement of Ram Quarter's special cultural and historic significance for the community.  With a background in sculpture, Gabie's practice has always been inspired by locations or situations caught in a moment of change.  Gabie was the perfect choice to work on the Ram Quarter project, and Greenland was thrilled that he accepted the commission.

Futurecity was set up to reflect the burgeoning worldwide interest in culture-driven placemaking and regeneration, and has encouraged the property sector in the UK to use art and culture in designing the UK's towns, cities and urban centres.  Futurecity has written nearly 100 placemaking and cultural strategies for development and regeneration projects across the UK and Europe.  In addition to Ram Quarter, projects in London alone include the Nine Elms Opportunity Area, White City, Greenwich Peninsula, Earl's Court, Canary Wharf and the City of London.  Futurecity has converted the once-derelict Old Spitalfields Market into a thriving venue, and Heathrow Airport and Crossrail into major culture brands.  This new approach to culture-led placemaking involves a variety of disciplines including architecture, infrastructure and public realm.

For his artwork for Ram Quarter, Neville Gabie recreated a Young's Christmas dinner that was originally held in 1948.  This new dinner was held in 2017 to celebrate the Ram Quarter redevelopment.  Many people from the local community attended, as well as some who were working on the development, including from the local Council, and also designers, planners, architects and builders who helped make it possible.  In addition to the dinner itself, a photograph that had been taken at the original 1948 dinner was recreated for the modern dinner.  Everyone in the new picture exactly copied the position of his or her counterpart in the original photograph.  And to crown it all, the dinner was held in the very same room in Wandsworth Town Hall where the original dinner had taken place.  The photograph of the recreated dinner was turned into a massive 1.5-metre x 3-metre lightbox, which is displayed in the Heritage Centre at Ram Quarter alongside a copy of the original photograph.

Gabie's visit with Futurecity at Ram Quarter began with a tour of the development.  This was the first time Gabie had seen the completed site, now fully occupied, and he was impressed by the transformation.  The group then moved into Ram Quarter's Heritage Centre, which is managed by Sambrook's brewery, for a fascinating talk on the site's history, illustrated with a huge number of artefacts which had been salvaged from the site during the development.

Ram Quarter is Greenland's award-winning re-development of the former Young's brewery in Wandsworth, southwest London.  Tours of the Heritage Centre can be booked < here >.