From just north of Shore Avenue on the East coast of the Portsmouth Peninsular, Milton Pier stretches across the expansive coastal open space of Milton Common for half a mile.
The Pier is not a continuous solid structure, but a corridor of creative interventions that evoke the idea of the Milton Common as land re-claimed from the sea. The idea of water flowing in the place where we then stood brought back memories for some of houseboats and cockling in the mud and revealed a history hidden below Portsmouths largest natural grassland area.
The Pier provides a vehicle for the creation of a series of sculptural interventions over the whole site. The trail, no more than three metres wide, stretches across the common, over wild grass, brambles, undulations, paths and ponds.
Platforms and posts made from reclaimed greenheart timber sea defences rise out of the ground, creating places to meet or for solitary contemplation, observation and exploration, a place to rest or for active physical play. The objects are connected by wild flowers that have been planted to enhance the concept of the corridor of interventions that form the pier.
Notions of landscapes changing through human intervention is at the forefront of contemporary environmental study and this work is intended not only to provide a fun and active place for young people but a place for reflection and contemplation.
