THE RIVER THAMES AND ARTERIAL ROUTES
Mind the Gap
Londinium was established as a Roman settlement on the River
Thames around AD 43. The town became a thriving trading post
and grew into the City of London thanks to the power of commerce.
Imports and exports of goods from around the world passed
through the London docks via the Thames. Today, some 2000 years
later, the Thames acts more as a barrier between north and south
of the city. The orange row of banners shows how the Thames
dissects London, and overlaid is a series of other arterial routes.
However, these routes are deceptive, as they are not the main
roads but the London tube lines. The routes reveal the chaotic
reality of the underground system, which emerged from several
competing railway companies, rather than the sanitised version of
Harry Beck’s London Underground Tube map that we all know and
love. Here we see another boundary – between the physical and
the representational.
CITY WIDE LONDON VIEW MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS (LVMF) –
STRATEGIC VIEWS
Corridors of Sky SUBURBAN HOUSING AND LARGE-SCALE INTERRUPTIONS
Rarely considered, boundaries between the earth and the sky
have also been created within London. Particular views of St Paul’s
Cathedral and Westminster Palace are protected from a series of
strategic viewing points such as Primrose Hill, Alexander Palace
and King Henry VIII’s Mound in Richmond Park. As demonstrated
by the red row of banners these corridors slice through the city
at different angles but are almost invisible unless you stand at the
correct viewing spot. As soon as you move sideways these views
disappear. These slices become even more important when you
understand that across all 33 boroughs there are currently 451
towers in planning, none of which will be permitted to stand within
one of these ‘viewing corridors’. It is these corridors that give rise
to the tight group of towers in the city of London, with the group
known as the ‘Eastern cluster’ sitting in a small triangular area
between three different viewing corridors Same Same but Different
LONDON’S PARKS AND SQUARES
It’s Not Easy Being Green
The green row of banners represents the boundaries between the
dense urban street pattern of Mayfair and Piccadilly, and areas of
respite and breathing space. In this row you can see St James’s
Square and a glimpse of both St James’s Park and Green Park, all of
which provide relief within the urban fabric. These represent the
boundaries between public and private urban space. Further west
(or left) we see the vast open space of Hyde Park, formerly the
private hunting grounds of Henry VIII in the 16th century. The park
was opened to the public in 1637 and hosted the Great Exhibition
and the Crystal Palace in 1851. At 350 acres it is one of the largest
urban parks in the world
London offers many scales and types of physical boundaries. In the
dark blue row of banners we witness the relentless march of the
spectacular Georgian and Victorian terraces. Long, repetitive rows
follow established routes such as transport lines, and sometimes
trace the natural contours of the land, forming a constant
backdrop to much of London. Boundaries between domestic and
municipal are represented here; note the sewage treatment works
interrupting terraced housing in west London.
THE PRIVATE DWELLING
A Place to Call Home
The final boundary in this series represented by the light blue row
of banners is the most personal – the physical size of the space
we occupy in our homes, and the ultimate boundary between
public and private space. Each row of banners is 40 square metres
when combined. This is actually larger than the minimum size of a
one-bedroom studio flat, which must be at least 39 square metres
according to the national space standards for new dwellings. In
this row you can make out the living room, kitchen, bathroom and
bedroom of an apartment at real scale 1:1. Market housing in the
UK does not benefit from any space standards. As a result of this
lack of standard the UK has some of the smallest homes in Europe.
Finally, did you spot the cat on the sofa? We’ve named him Bob,
after the star of the 2016 biopic ‘A Street Cat Named Bob’. Bob
was the motivation to help homeless busker James Bowen off
the streets and is now helping highlight the issue and raise much
needed funds for the outreach work so vital for our streets.
www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org
CONSISTING OF SIX DESIGNS, EACH ROW OF
BANNERS EXPLORES THE LIMITATIONS OF LONDON
WITH THEMES INCLUDING: GREATER LONDON AND
ITS BOROUGHS, THE RIVER THAMES AND ARTERIAL
ROUTES, CITY-WIDE LONDON VIEW.