Work began last week on a new architectural design to be unveiled on Brixton Road rail-bridge on Thursday.
The new design, inspired by well-known Brixton imagery, is the brainchild of Lambeth designer Akil Scafe-Smith, of RESOLVE Collective, and architect Farouk Agoro.
A competition run by Brixton Design Trail selected the idea which carries the inclusive and welcoming message of ‘Come in Love’ on one side of the bridge and ‘Stay in Peace’ on the other.
Mr Scafe-Smith said: “The primary inspiration was about trying to archive and consolidate a lot of Brixton’s cultural heritage and trying to set something in stone about the Afro-Caribbean heritage of Brixton as well as ideas of migration and different cultures.”
He said the hands-on initiative was a unique project for them both and its universal message of inclusivity showed how the issues being tackled in Brixton bore similarities to issues being tackled all over the world.
WINNING TEAM: Farouk Agoro (left) and Akil Scafe-Smith
Mr Agoro, an architect originally from Lagos in Nigeria, has lived in Brixton for 15 years and spoke of the design’s subtle message of protest in the context of wider gentrification and its welcoming narrative for those long-term residents in Brixton who may feel displaced.
He said: “It is a welcoming message and a parting gift that will give people a little smile.”
He added that the project helped give people a feeling of the spirit of Brixton and the text was a daily message people can take with them as they walk by every day.
He said many in the design competition had shied away from using the green, red and gold colours classically associated with Brixton, but they had wanted to embrace the colours that represent a community.
“The idea came from the concept of the bridge as a gateway,” added Mr Scafe-Smith.
“Brixton is so rich in its history of having artists and it has always been quite political, the art of resistance has become the art of the people and I think that is going to be Brixton’s saving grace,” he said.
The bridge clean-up and design has been funded by Lambeth Council as part of the Mayor of London’s High Street Fund programme.
Councillor Claire Holland, cabinet member for environment and clean air, said: “This new bridge design is going to make a huge difference to the centre of Brixton.
“Visible to everybody coming here, or just passing through, it speaks to the values of Brixton and the people who live here.”
She added: “Brixton is a welcoming and peace-loving place and the new bridge will encapsulate that perfectly. I can’t wait to see it completed, adding yet more colour to the town centre.”
The two artists are working with specialists OUTSIDE to install the art, to be unveiled on October 4.
Feature image shows impression of finished artwork.
