The Lure of the City by Austin Williams Alastair Donald

Author:Austin Williams, Alastair Donald [Austin Williams, Alastair Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783714797
Google: XaEswAEACAAJ
Publisher: Pluto Press
Published: 2011-01-15T03:29:37+00:00

MEMORIES REINTERPRETED

Some insist that the benefits of incorporating memory within the built environment are based upon science; neuroscience in general, social science in particular, but actually pseudo-science in essence. In December 2010 the Abbey Road zebra crossing in London achieved Grade II listed status. The crossing is, of course, famous for appearing on the cover of a Beatles album that shares the name of the road. As John Penrose, the minister for tourism and heritage, explained, ‘This London zebra crossing is no castle or cathedral, but thanks to the Beatles and a ten-minute photo shoot one August morning in 1969, it has just as strong a claim as any to be seen to be part of our heritage.’24 That tourists love to have their photographs taken on the crossing while trying to recreate the iconic Beatles cover illustrates something of the psychology at work. For the urban memory theorist, this qualifies as an instance of lieux de memoire, or ‘place of memory’, in which the crossing can trigger memories of the past. In this context, the practical function of the crossing is secondary to the memory-triggering role it is seen to play.

These ‘triggers’ are similar to Proust’s involuntary memories. The sensory experience seems to take the person back in time, so that the memory of the past really does come alive. This is not just a conscious act of remembering, but a psychosomatic reaction to a place, and the response cannot be allied purely to the location; it is as much governed by time, mood, dreams and ambition as it is by physically real past experiences. Perhaps the person on the zebra crossing is reliving the happy memories of their youth, when a new Beatles album had just been released. Another might recall when they were almost run over on a zebra crossing. For others, the whole experience will simply amount to parentally induced embarrassment. It is clear that, whatever the outcome, the emotional reality for the person concerned is palpable. But we have no way of capturing the definitive cause–effect relationship that is induced – or fails to be induced – by a place, because of the multitude of subjective elements at play.

For the urban memory theorist, what occurs can be set against the simple nostalgia that we associate with the heritage industry. We are not being encouraged to live in the past; rather we are being invited to live in the here-and-now, but fortified by the emotional attachment that urban memories provide. Generalised responses are all that can be offered, but this subjective psychological phenomenon has had an increasing influence on decisions around urban design.

Used until recently as an out-patient annexe for the Middlesex Hospital in London, a building due for demolition has become the focus of a campaign to prevent its redevelopment for new housing. Unbeknown to many of those who have used the building, it was erected in 1778 as a parish poorhouse, known as the Strand Union workhouse. It is this connection that campaigners wish to preserve.

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