The Transparent Abattoir Year 4
The Transparent Abattoir is part of The Leather Collective, a group of four programs dedicated to localized leather and meat production in East London. This initiative combines a city farm, an abattoir, a tannery, and a leather goods workshop into a single compact site, where all livestock processing is carried out efficiently, reintroducing agricultural lands and practices to an extremely urban environment. The project offers various activities to local residents, encouraging involvement in agricultural practices in an area where such opportunities are limited.
The project draws inspiration from Alice V. Robinson’s book;
“Field, Fork, Fashion: Bullock 374 and a Designer’s Journey to Find a Future for Leather”
The proposal also reintroduces historic Lammas lands to the Hackney Marshes, rotating between growing crop and pasturage. By also reintroducing a once-dominant craft and industry in East London, the project engages local school pupils and residents through workshops. It also provocatively places an abattoir along the River Lea, aiming to expose the process and foster a more honest relationship with meat consumption.
Aerial of the abattoir
Abattoir exterior, showing the contrast between slaughtering and animal grazing
Abattoir interior
Exterior atmospheric view, showing the proposal during a protest.
Proposed site plan, encompassing all programs of The Leather Collective NTS
Ground floor plan of the abattoir NTS