Damien Hirst plans surprisingly good town extension

Source: North Devon Journal

Reported to be the world’s richest artist, Damien Hirst is building an extension to the thousand-year-old town of Ilfracombe, Devon, England.

The 750-home, mixed-use Southern Extension, recently approved by council, will add as much as 25 percent to the town’s population — but do so in a surprisingly sustainable way.

The development will be located about a mile from the harbor and heart of the old town, connected to existing neighborhoods. The 185-acre project includes a village center with a green and plazas, townhouses and mixed-use buildings — very much like the existing town. It avoids blurring the edge between Ilfracombe and countryside — still distinct despite outward growth in recent decades. Seventy-five affordable units will be included.

Hirst, 49, a celebrity and entrepreneurial fine artist, already has a restaurant, café, and gallery in the town where he maintains a home. He placed a 14-foot-tall statue of a pregnant woman revealing interior anatomy in the harbor of Ilfracombe – a piece of art that was controversial but has become a landmark.

Some of the coverage has been catty and shallow — not surprising when celebrity is involved. The Huffington Post alluded to “an art world version of Mr. Henry F. Potter” — invoking the evil developer cliché. The headline “Damien Hirst is Building a Town No One Wants,” is an obvious overreach given the unanimous approval in late July.

Remarkably, the media coverage mentions little of the mixed-use, walkable qualities — as if this has become normal in Britain.

In America sensible development patterns should be so routine. 

Source: North Devon Journal