Modus Operandi was appointed by the London Borough of Newham to oversee the selection and appointment of an artist to revive Abbey Gardens, a neglected piece of land in East London. Somewhere (Karen Guthrie & Nine Pope) was selected through a competitive process and the resulting project, What Will The Harvest Be? focused on the long term development of Abbey Gardens.
Once a neglected wasteland, the site, which contains the remains of the 12th century Cistercian Abbey of St Mary’s, Langthorne, has been transformed into a unique open-access Harvest Garden. It is a garden of fruit, flowers and vegetables that anyone living in the community can use to grow and harvest.
The idea of the project was to harness the enthusiasm of the local residents’ group (The Friends of Abbey Gardens) for growing their own food, creating an iconic garden for the community to learn and experiment within, as well as one that would be inspiring to visitors. Abbey Gardens is adjacent to the DLR station Abbey Road.