City: boundary, meaning and contingency
Monday 27 October
14:00 – 17:00
There are all sorts of lines and demarcations in London. Many are quite legible and we abide by them on a daily basis. From the air Heathrow looks like a great park for walking the dog but in practice we know that it has a much more forbidding purpose.
Some of the lines are attached to lost topographies and property boundaries. A celebrated transport economist told me that there are 78 agencies that need to be consulted within the complex of St Pancras and Kings Cross. I would suggest that we meet up at Caravan beneath CSM. This is pretty much on the line of the river Fleet descending from Kenwood to the river (it comes out of its culvert beneath the north end of Blackfriars bridge).
There’s a really strong sense that London hinges here from its eastern half to its western half, perhaps something which Google already recognises in anticipation of building its European headquarters on this site. I plan to walk both westwards and Eastwards with our group so that they have a sense of boundary, meaning and contingency across the area.
Walking alone has an interesting privacy about it. Solo walkers often look purposeful as if their walking was purely utilitarian. Couples walk differently and groups tend to sinter and regather which creates an unusual conversational condition. My greatest interest in walking with groups of people is precisely this dynamic.