7.12.2016
Pitch/Pitch
Architecture practice AL_A has released its plans for ‘Pitch/Pitch’, a series of stackable 5-a-side football pitches designed to be erected on derelict or temporarily vacant sites across London and in other cities internationally.
Pitch/Pitch responds to the problem of a shortage of places to participate in sport in inner cities. It is designed to be a temporary installation which is fast and easy to erect, meaning it could be set up for a fortnight to coincide with a World Cup tournament, or last for a year, bringing use to vacant sites that might otherwise lie dormant.
Director at AL_A, Maximiliano Arrocet said: “We’ve designed this intervention to encourage the theatre of the game, with spectators and would-be players drawn in as Pitch/Pitch animates the cityscape. Pitch/Pitch allows the game to retain an urban flavour, adapting to the number of players and awkward shaped sites.”
Working with Arup, the practice – which was founded in 2009 by Stirling-Prize winning architect Amanda Levete – designed the modular system using a lightweight carbon-fibre structure, a material more usually associated with the aerospace industry.
The practice’s experience in the use of the innovative material began with MPavilion – Melbourne’s version of the Serpentine Pavilion – a dynamic, gently swaying canopy of translucent ‘petals’ elevated four meters above ground and host to hundreds of events in 2015.
AL_A is now working with partners with a view to financing and implementing the scheme across London.