Isn’t Ilfracombe already a town?
Yes, but Hirst was deeply involved in the application process for an eco-friendly, 750-home development known as the Southern Extension.
That’s a terrible name for a town.
Which is probably why the scheme was known as Hirst-on-Sea until recently.
Until recently?
Hirst, who lives nearby, has now withdrawn from the project. His company, Resign, says it could not find a developer to build houses “in keeping with our vision”.
— The Guardian
Looks like Damien Hirst's plan to build 750 eco-friendly homes in the English seaside town of Ilfracombe isn't going to happen after all.
When we first reported about the artist's town-development ambitions back in 2012, the announcement was greeted with skepticism from Archinect readers. Two years later, everything still seemed jolly fine with the North Devon Council approving the plans.
The endeavor even inspired the studio project "Visionary Cities Project" at the University of Illinois at Chicago with students applying urbanist archetypes to Ilfracombe's blank development site.
The Guardian reader Patrick Ryan praises Hirst as a sensible businessman in the comment section and blames "Brexit dark clouds" over the UK's property market as a legitimate reason to pull the plug.
What's your take? Chime in below.
1 Comment
multimillionaire "artist" becomes developer....
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