Barking Town Square's elder brother

Photo courtesy Miles Dennison

This photo (taken near Waterloo East Station in South London) helps make the point that the ‘urban design theory’ underpinning the misguided design of Barking Town Square dates from the 1960s. It was wrong then and it is wrong now. Muf Architecture’s office is in East London but they could well have been inspired by Waterloo. Note the chain link fencing. Why not plant it with convolvulus? – the Rasta temple in Camberwell could let us regard this as a context-sentsitive approach! Or, better, plant it with runner beans – nice red flowers and then some good organic food to eat.



Rasta Temple

Originally uploaded by a shadow of my future self

2 thoughts on “Barking Town Square's elder brother

  1. Christine

    This looks like a carparking space? Does it have road or pedestrian access? Perhaps they could create an outdoor garden room in the space and use it as a wine bar? After all it is close to transport…

    Perhaps this might be a temporary occupation of the space as most spaces of this sort are usually being landbanked for future development?

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  2. Christine

    ps. Camille Sitte in ‘Limitations of Modern City Planning’after asking “What value does an open plaza have as a perspective space when it is congested with foliage?”

    …then goes on to make the helpful observation “It is quite astonishing how many delightful small gardens are to be found in the interior of the building lots of old towns; one has no suspicion of their existence before entering the courtyards and rear areas.” (see above)

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