Deer Park Alpha

‘Blank walls proclaim the power of the institution, the inconsequence of the individual, whom they are clearly meant to put down, if not intimidate’ (Whyte W.H. 1988 – City: Rediscovering the Centre).
A street with a continuous blank wall offers no life or experience of what is going on behind it. The street may feel unsafe [...]

Giorgio de Chirico depicts cityscapes where random, spatially disconnected elements – arched colonnades and loggias, a clock, a train behind a wall, palm trees, towers – are seen in terrifyingly stark afternoon light, with dead patches of sun and dire shadows. Like the mission church in Hitchcock’s Vertigo (certainly influenced by De Chirico) this repeated, [...]

This is the view from Deer Park Alpha’s new studio in Portsmouth, UK. We have a fantastic view across the Solent with the Isle of Wight in the distance and the many shipping movements of Portsmouth Harbour. This view was taken today whilst a Royal Navy destroyer was passing.
Our address is 17 Pembroke Road, Portsmouth, [...]

Guildhall Square in Portsmouth is a good public space with well proportioned buildings around its permiter. With the exception of major events it lacks life at all times of the day and with the exception of the main entrance the ground floor facade of the civic offices is not an active frontage. Our proposal is [...]