V&A Dundee has revealed the most common wish submitted to its “Cloud of Dreams” over the last six months was for more green spaces.
The “Cloud of Dreams” is a huge paper chandelier, which visitors to the design museum have been invited to add their wishes to, as part of the What If…? Scotland architecture exhibition.
As the exhibition winds down, the wishes have been analysed to see which themes were the most common.
Green space was the top contender, with roughly 29% of the wishes asking for “more parks, trees and nature”.
Other popular wishes were for better public transport (11%), more amenities for kids (10%), and more community spirit (8%).
Some of the wishes reflected the pandemic. One read: “I wish better health for all the world”, while another said: “I wish COVID-19 will go away soon so we can get back meeting people and hugging family.”
Leonie Bell, director of V&A Dundee said: “We have been delighted to host What if…? Scotland.
“The exhibition has created space for visitors to reflect on what really matters about a place or neighbourhood. And it’s celebrated the joy and value of places that we all use every day.”
Architects built bridges with ordinary folk
The What If…? Scotland exhibition was led by 7N Architects, after their plans to present the project at the famous Venice Biennale were foiled due to Covid, and V&A Dundee stepped in to provide a new home for the idea.
It saw architects paired up with residents of five communities across Scotland, with the aim of finding out what ordinary people would want for their areas if all red tape was out of the question.
The “Cloud of Dreams” continued that theme, with visitors able to contribute their own hopes and dreams on paper.
And the spirit of the exhibition continued with a mini What If…?/Dundee project, which saw architects go into five different areas of the city to get a sense of what each place wanted or needed.
Ewan Anderson, chief architect at 7N, said: “We can see from their wishes how passionate people are about their places.
“I hope it will have inspired people to become more involved in creating a positive future for their communities.”