Placeholders by Aude-Line Duliere and Juliet Haysom, with a documentary by Ele Mun

When the V&A created the V&A Exhibition Road Quarter in 2017, the Aston Webb Screen was transformed from a solid facade into the porous entrance we see today. More than 400 large Portland Stones were removed and donated to a quarry in Dorset, where they have been dormant for nearly a decade. In this strategic intervention commissioned by the V&A, the Aston Webb Screen stones return to Exhibition Road as urban furniture. Here another design adaptation will overlay the traces of their production, assembly and deconstruction dating from 1909 to the present day, adding a new chapter to these stones’ odyssey. This project illustrates the enduring possibilities for reusing stone, which is emerging as one of the lowest environmental impact building materials (if quarried and reused locally), holding great potential for the circular economy within the construction industry. New red ruby granite features, specifically designed and quarried for Exhibition Road, are making their way to complete Kensington & Chelsea Council’s designs for this site. For the time being, this installation composed with reused stones originating in Dorset and bearing the traces of London’s recent history, will hold this space.