Ideas for London, Part 1

I’ve been a bit grumpy today, it being a rainy Monday in olde London town so what better time to get a few things of my chest in regards to this crusty old city. This has also been inspired by a recent trip to the currently Tate Modern exhibition on ‘Global Cities’ [tate.org.uk]. There also seems to be a general consensus that London needs a lot of work at the moment on a number of levels. London has always had a problem with planning. It is a city that prefers to react to events rather than sit down and sketch out any plans on what it might become. So here are a few humble suggestions for paving the way to a better capital…

 

Extract National Politics from Local Councils
This may sound a like a bit of a lunatic notion to many Londoners but there are many places around the world where local government and the national political parties are two distinctly different things. Take Australia for instance, where Mayors are elected based on their own personal record and that of their immediate, hand-selected team of councillors from a particular area. Allegiances to major political parties are expressed but rarely discussed at any length. The focus being on the organisation, supply and promotion of local services for the local population. With local councils in London and U.K. having to take sides on a regular basis, the result tends to be a lot on infighting, unnecessary expenditure and, ultimately, a mess. The smaller the section of the community the more visible the local government needs to be. Many councils in London can seem invisible to their citizens on a day-to-day basis.

Create a cohesive ‘umbrella’ identity for the whole of London
England has visual identity systems that are renown throughout the modern world. Just look at loving care and attention to detail lavished on maintaining the identity for London Underground over the years. So why is the current state of London’s various visual identities in such a mess? This is a topic that I’ve discussed on boicozine before. There many factors contributing to the visual pollution we see today, although much of the blame has to be laid at the feet of lazy councillors and businesses who prefer to use marketing and branding led agencies who speak the language of business much more fluently than most of the more traditional yet often more appropriate, Graphic Design agencies based in London. They are simply not up for a challenge and happy to be pandered to by the wrong sort of companies. This could be overcome by creating a centralised Graphic Design lab for the various London councils. This would also reduce the over-reliance on outsourcing work to a variety of agencies and flakey consultants.

 

On a more intimate note, here a few less ambitious ideas that could help make things just a bit better…

Create a National Centre for Design at the Barbican
The Barbican is a unique place for a city to call it’s own, and although a lot of good work has been done recently to elevate it’s status, it could still be made to work harder at helping reinstate the confidence in modern design and architecture that this city is sadly lacking. There is currently an opportunity to create a National Centre for Design that could occupy an annex of the Barbican called Milton Court (Update: Sadly now demolished). A Design Lab and Workshop could be set up as an Education centre and an annex of the Design Museum could be created in the, now empty, fire station.
[Google Maps]

Create a new centre for London in the Truman Brewery
The area around Brick Lane and Spitalfields in London’s East is becoming busier and busier every day. Many businesses are starting to move over here from traditionally hip areas such as Soho in the West End. Much of the activity centres around the Truman Brewery [trumanbrewery.com] in between the two. Here lies an opportunity to create a second heart for the city. A mixed use development including reasonably priced and experimental housing (to prevent the site becoming a city boy ghetto like much of the Old Street area has become) and a central shopping area could be developed around the various event venues that live there now. A cohesive visual identity encompassing the massive brewey site would tie the various activities on site together.
[Google Maps]

Add a bit of Tokyo to the West End
London’s West End needs a bit of a boost. The area around Piccadilly and Leicester Square has to be one of the busiest city centres in the world and yet it look tired and unloved. A slice of Tokyo retail action could reinvigorate this part of town and starve off the blatant Americanisation of the lower end of Regent Street. Any visitors to Tokyo will know how amazing the retail experience is. London’s high streets do not compare. A Tokyo style shopping centre (abet on a much smaller scale) could be developed on the former Regent Palace Hotel site [regentpalacehotel.co.uk] and incorporate ‘proper’ Japanese versions of popular London stores such as Uniqlo and Muji alongside unqiuely Japanese ‘retail experiences’.
[Google Maps]

 

So there you have my London brain dump. Some of it may chime in with your own thoughts on the matter. Some of it may irk you. Either way, why not add your thoughts to the issue and leave a comment. In a city this big there is always room for change.

Leave a Reply