longcuts

For

Architecture Fringe

​

In production with

Jenny Jones

​

In collaboration with

Restalrig Road & Railway Path Litter Pick

Sarah Calmus

Make ShiftEd

​

Restalrig, Edinburgh

2017

For the Architecture Fringe Festival 2017, and in response to their provocation of Infrastructure, Civic Soup produced a weekend of activity around a constructed gathering spot on Restalrig Railway path – a well-used route connecting Easter Road with Seafield, through Lochend and Restalrig.

Leith and the north of Edinburgh have a well documented, rich industrial legacy ranging shipbuilding to glassmaking. The infrastructure of railway lines that underpinned this extensive production remains surprisingly intact and still function as important places of transit.

​

We sought to encourage pedestrians and cyclists to slow down, enjoy, and reframe their understanding of the site as a piece of infrastructural heritage on a prolonged amble of activity. With a team of collaborators, we created these spaces through the use of recycled furniture and found materials.

Over the course of the weekend, Longcuts was:

The Restalrig archive, the junk-furniture-drawing-room, the City Factory, picnic lunches, story sharing, collaborative music making, fence weaving with MakeshiftEd and a special appearance from artist, Sarah Calmus.