Made in Sheffield – The Steel Forest Part 1 Project 2011 Amy Martin Sheffield Hallam University | UK The spaces of Sheffield used to be full of life now a walk around Sheffield river side and old industry sites remain ghost. There are obvious Victorian buildings and scenes of the city’s industrial history still hidden within the skeletons of the empty building and many urban patterns still legible, with redundant spaces that used to be courtyards and social spaces. As well as the river Sheffield also encompasses many parks and woodland areas many which are also forgotten about and there for unused. It has become a large part of the redevelopment plan to bring back interest activity to both the riverside and the open spaces. Despite the loss of industry Sheffield has now become a built up city. The area of study that encompasses the chosen site and the Kelham Island is known as the wicker riverside area its lies on the northern edge of Sheffield City Centre, with the River Don running through it. The area encompasses the Sheffield castle and was a prominent and memorable area acting as an important gateway to the City. Due to the once thriving steel industry within the city between 18th century and early 20th century, the Wicker Riverside area was a dense, bustling network of streets and lanes serving the City’s silversmiths, steel manufacturers and other industries gathered there. The project aims to reveal Sheffield history, through a forest of steel, creating experiences both internal and external and merging the boundaries between water and land. The project embraces the make up of Sheffield’s seven hills using the ideas to divide up the site whilst acknowledging the history of the site (wire works) through the expression of the steel. Whilst teaching of Sheffield’s industrial history, the project reacts to Sheffield as a ‘green city’ : creating habitats along and within the site to encourage Sheffield’s rich wildlife that has been somewhat forgotten about, whilst also introducing new methods ‘the canopy’ of creating interest around ways of aiming toward zero carbon buildings. Tutor(s) Gabriel Tang