Unleashing Londoners' imagination

In this Open House special episode hosts Merlin Fulcher and Arman Nouri talk about how imagination - such as myths which celebrate our real or fictional past - can transform how we see the city around us, and in turn create better places for everyone.

Joined by guests Robin Hutchinson, director of Community Brain and Chloë Clay, Urban Design Manager at Kingston Council, this episode focuses specifically on Seething Wells, a large former waterworks which played a pioneering role in the delivery of clean drinking water to central London, and was the focus of Jon Snow’s groundbreaking cholera study which created modern epidemiology.

It’s an area next to the River Thames upstream from Kingston which for a long time had been overlooked for its extraordinary history but has now been rediscovered by local residents who have taken its identity into their own hands over the course of several events, workshops and performances - often exploring light-hearted and fictional legends - led by the arts organisation Community Brain.

With lockdown forcing more and more of us to love, treasure and better understand our local areas it’s an ideal moment to reflect on the role imagination could play more widely across London and beyond in building the inclusive, healthy and sustainable city we all strive for. 

Find out more about Community Brain here

To listen and subscribe go to Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or check out open-city.org.uk/podcast for more information!