Placetest Gillett Square

When it was announced that the market pods in Gillett Square would be demolished as part of a major redevelopment, thousands of people came out to protest their removal. What is it about this square that caused such a strong reaction?

Placetest Gillett Square is a film by Simon Mercer that unpicks the story behind the place as it stands at a crossroad, poised for further redevelopment.

Anthropologist and social researcher Nitasha Kapoor analyses the design of the pods and how they foster community, HCD’s former managing director Adam Hart tells the history of the square’s becoming, while Russell Brown, co-founder of architects Hawkins\Brown, explains how luck and opportunism combined in the shaping of this “almost historic” regeneration project in Dalston, Hackney, London.

Film by Simon Mercer

With thanks to the traders of Gillett Square and Adam Hart

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