ANNA POSITANO
Photographs of London 2012 Olympics on casabella’s editorial 815-816.
A city that changes and is always the same
«The February 2012 issue of “Architectural Design” was entirely on the “London Urban Regeneration”. “Regeneration”, the, is the buzzword of the London of the new millenium, and that of the Olympic city as well. Of coursebehind an effective slogan there is a good dose of skilfull “territorial marketing”. Operations in London are well aware of the fact that the historical heritage is the sole quality that can truly make the difference between London and the other financial capitals of the world. The Canary Wharf and Docklands operations have only partially exploited the charm emitted by thename of London, and the almost total destruction of the historic fabric today certainly puts a limit on their real estate value. The years of “deregulation” under Thatcher were years in which question of conservation of urban fabric and safeguarding of historic buildings were pushed into the background with respect to the need for return on investment. The result was a strong reaction towards xonservation and the protection of constructed heritage. Today, as in new York, for that matter, the organism of control of the protection of Landmarks pay attention not only to monuments, but also to “street patterns” and even the constructive details of the simplest “anonymous” buildings. ALongside the tall towerss, the symbol of which is Renzo Piano’s Shard, we are seeing a true widespread phenomenon of “urban regeneration” that naturally involves much of the fabric of the historical city, but also the industrial suburbs and the residential areas of the outermost bely. The skewing towards new markets of the British financial giant has imposed, as in all large western cities, the closing of productive facilities up against urban areas, while favoring the explosion of office complexes inside those zones. The large factories of the London outskirts have been closed for decades, the shipyards have been moved, the warehouses and grain storage facilities have been abandoned. The image of hte city hasn’t changed, in its familiar symbols, but its geography has changed a lot».*
* extract from Nicola Braghieri London 2012, The Running City. Olympic and Paralympic Games Casabella 815-816, August 2012