In the video, he shows a very familiar building in Shoreditch, a warehouse that gave home to many creatives inc.the artist, being demolished and discusses how this kind of thing is impacting the area.
Earlier in the week I attended an event and ended up discussing the same topic in the context of Brixton where among other things, the market is for sale.
So here we are:
As much as London needs to evolve with time to accommodate the needs of its population, It does not seem to be the needs of the population that are shaping the city.
The same kind of buildings (that will often be sold to investors) appear everywhere replacing locally distinctive ones.
This is not only making the city lose its historical layers (something not only needed to remind us of where we come from but also to provide a sense of familiarity to existing communities) but also creating ground floors that because they do not consider the existing communities, remain empty and provide no eyes on the street.
Near where we live, phase 1 of a new development led by the council was completed a couple of years ago. The buildings either have residential on the ground floor with no separation from the street and curtains permanently drawn or empty commercial units . This is not uncommon.
The decay of the high street cannot be blamed solely on Amazon and online shopping. Local authorities and the industry need to be better at planning and delivering impactful designs that cater both to existing as well as new communities in real life, not in paper. And to do this, they need consultation to become an intrinsic part of the design process, not a box ticked in a paper.
So what can we do?
Get on the ground and learn about your community. Ground floors will become a lot more relevant
& Award givers such as @riba @aia.uk etc, could stop giving awards to newly finished buildings and start giving them to those that have successfully been running for at least 2y in terms of sustainability, accessibility and community.
Thoughts?
