The two Stratfords
A transient “go past it to get to somewhere else” part of town? There are those who are just temporarily living there until they can ‘do better’ elsewhere in London? (Whatever that actually means in any part of London nowadays) A busy, tired and neglected area of East London that’s stuck in a ‘time warp?’ An area where there are those who have been there for many years and are just getting on with daily life. Is there a sense of character? community? history? It had looked as though Stratford had been politely waiting in line for something to happen, cue the change… Stratford it’s time to wake up from your dusty slumber, cue the Olympics Games 2012.
It’s amazing just what a good clear up and a fresh lick of paint can do. Everything is looking sharp and ready to invite and welcome the world. Everything? Look a bit closer and the contrasts are striking; The new and exciting ‘E20’ Stratford postcode with its surrounding new Olympic park and shopping area stands against the ‘Cinderella’ of Stratford’s long standing ‘E15’ postcode. Not good enough to go to the ball? Not even good enough for the glamorous ‘new’ to be incorporated into the existing, humble it may be, E15 identity? Where does that leave the two Stratfords? Separated or united by a bold steel statement of a pedestrian bridge? Is it a welcoming vital link or a symbol of segregation? It depends how you look at it and how much energy one can be bothered to muster up before traversing the path to and from both areas on shank’s pony?
Separated or united?
Those coming in from the Stratford of old need to climb stairs of which there are many (ok, there are lifts and escalators too) reaching a higher and higher, elevated cathedral-esque state. It’s almost a “yellow brick road and follow it, why don’t you, go on” sort of a moment! – How exciting? “You’re off to see the wizard?!”… or Primark, or Greggs bakery, or M&S…hang on, walk that little bit further and you’re met with a John Lewis (I think that’s the wizards name and no, he wasn’t behind a curtain – but his voiles are indeed very impressive!) Now, if you were to start your journey from this point of the ‘new’ before heading to the ‘old’, well… well you wouldn’t bother with it or would you?
Celebration of life and creativity?
What about Stratford’s soul? The vibrancy of cultural mixes, young and old? The history and celebration of life and creativity offered at Stratford’s Theatre Royal for example? Now that the Olympics have been and gone, is there a tangible void? After the initial excitement, does it now feel stale; a week of “Monday mornings” instead of a week of “Saturday nights?” Has the whiff of ‘success’ wafted over from E20 and into E15 with the ‘fairy godmother of gentrification’ beginning to wave her magic/not so magic wand about?
What’s your Stratford experience, magic or otherwise?
Gentrification or segregation?
Drab or delightful? – Cultural investigator ‘Huck Magazine’ looks at London’s hidden Skateboarders at the Stratford Centre.
Take a look at my Stratford inspired design work