Time please
Photography2009
Excerpts from a typological study of London pubs which remain whilst all contemporaneous architecture surrounding has been removed or developed.
The pub is so often the sole survivor, remaining and holding its position as a whole area undergoes complete change. On occasion the building becomes the ‘feature’ of a new development, architectural details picked out for pastiche, rhythms and heights picked out. Sometimes it remains alone when all else has disappeared. On occasion new buildings tower over or tightly abut, forcing modernity.
Why is the pub retained when residential around it of similar age and style was deemed suitable for regeneration? What does it say about our society if the only continuity of place and community is a public house? How are our values, and those of history, architecture and heritage, reflected in this repeating pattern?
