walkscapes

The act of walking is to the urban system what the speech act is to language or to the statements uttered. (Certeau, M. and Rendall, S.).

The language of our paths through space alters their function and meaning throughout time, much like speech. After the Great Fire of London in 1666 we had the opportunity to create a more functional city space with Christopher Wrens modular vision of the future of London. However, for the ‘common people’ the homogenous growth of Londons street systems were their life blood, and the city rebuilt itself from its smouldering roots up. It seems a very English tradition to keep the history of our streets and be moulded in turn by ancient desire lines. Much of England today is still based on old Roman roads, take Shooters Hill road (A2) in South East London, an ancient Celtic highway, paved over by the Romans in 400s AD. A city moulded by rivers, yet cast by the roads.

To this day in the UK we are building pop up towns with no ‘logical’ grid format like the Jeffersonian cities of America or Barcelona, and are instead creating cul-de-sacs and meandering roads, because this is what British history dictates. Our towns curve with the meanders of rivers, bows down to the contours of the hills, our history is a more natural, empathetic one. In line with the Celts who used nature to their advantage, using hills to defend themselves from their enemies in their hill forts, and living in small tribal settlements (Ross. ND).

Figure 15 Jeffersonian farm grid Kansas, USA (Source: NASA, 2001.)

“...the notion of journey or path. In fact it is probable that it was nomadism, or more precisely “wandering”, that gave rise to architecture, revealing the need for a symbolic construction of the landscape.” (Careri, F. pg 36. 2002)

In the 2011 film ‘In Time’ the speed in which they move through space dictates the social standing the characters hold - for time is currency. The rich can linger, take part and absorb the knowledge found in inhabiting space. The poor have to move quickly, ignore the seemingly mundane and find what is important, or rush through life entirely. The perfect allegory to real life – in this world who leaves anything behind?

The ‘poor’ use time for memory, why waste time when leaving your mark ensures that some small part of you will be remembered. I was here. The ‘rich’ are eternal, they need not be remembered as they will always be. The world is drained, functionality over creativity. In our world why not have both entwined?