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The Old Elephant
Context: Last Orders
The Elephant and Castle, from its hospitable beginnings as the pub at the crossroads of the Roman roads from the Kent and Sussex coasts, has long since become synonymous with catastrophic post-war social, architectural and urban planning. When “last orders” was called on the night of the 8 March 1959 at the legendary local, the iconic bronze elephant carrying its castle was taken down from the pub’s rooftop later to be installed and re-mythologised outside the infamous shopping centre. Hereafter developed a muggers’ maze of subways and the gargantuan high-rise sink estates of The Heygate and Aylesbury. By the end of the last century the area had become journalistic short hand for inner-city crime, squalor and deprivation with the Daily Mail describing a walk around its precincts as “like visiting hell’s waiting room”. With the recent erection of Strata1 and the shopping centre’s fresh coat of blue paint already streaked with pigeon shit it might seem that the woes are set to continue, but life in the old Elephant is not always like this.
Its voice has the rasp of trams, trains, trucks. Its eyes have the blaze of street stalls, eel stands, pin-table arcades and chestnut cans. Its anatomy is decked with sooty bricks, cast-iron spines, and the marble pillars of pubs. Its heart is that of its people - kind as a housewife, rough as a worker, busy as a tradesman, wide as a wide boy.2
The gateway to the south has always been renowned for its nightlife, from Victorian music halls to the gaudy grandeur of the Trocadero cinema, from the dance hall stomping grounds of the teddy boys to the ecstatic revelers at the Ministry. Despite its impending demolition the shopping centre is as vibrant now as it ever has been. African market stalls fill the subterranean plaza, Latin American cafes and shops enliven the arcade, art installations inhabit derelict units and magical carpets take young hoods and old players up to bowling and bingo.
Subject: Goose Club
There are 10 million people in the UK over 65 years old. This is predicted to increase to 15.5 million in 20 years time and by 2050 it is anticipated that 1 in 4 people will be aged 65 and over. Today, the aging population are commonly referred as ‘old age pensioners’, defined by their retirement from a working or active life. Retirement is a relatively recent phenomenon and the origins of the old age pension can be traced back to the Elephant’s ‘Goose Club’ of the early twentieth century, whose elderly subscribers of a few pence a week could collect a goose on Christmas Eve.
In recent decades, for some retirement has ceased to become a period of inactivity and through increased wealth and improved health, many retirees have experienced new periods of activity and diversity in their lives. The socio-cultural position of the older generations continues to change and an increasingly culturally diverse society brings different traditions and attitudes towards the old.
Typically, architecture for older people conjures up ideas of care homes, sheltered housing and places that are institutional, depressing and anonymous. Recent exposes from care homes across the UK have only worsened the public perception of these institutions for the frail and vulnerable. In contrast to this are projects such as BOOM in Palm Springs3 which proposes a gay retirement village to accommodate a community of ‘ageing creative boomers’ designed by a selection of world renowned starchitects. Architecture for an older society will have to change and new typologies need to be established to reflect changing social, economic and cultural conditions. We will be investigating these new possibilities within an inner city context, which is undergoing its own transformation.
Approach: Borrowed Time
Old age... You are now living on what is casually called ‘borrowed time’; whatever that may mean. You can’t borrow from Chance or Fate or Physical Condition. ‘Unexpected time’ would be less picturesque but more exact. You have arrived at a place which displays the first sign for the last bus.4
Over the last two decades local and national political and planning developments have conspired to consign the Elephant and Castle to a perpetual state of regeneration purgatory. With the 60 year payback period of the existing properties outstanding, the aptly named developer Bovis Lend Lease currently has its hands on the explosive plunger eager to provide the blank canvas required for Make Architects’ latest masterplan. Amongst the twisting Elder and Mature Chestnut trees, the last few residents of the Heygate staunchly remain, keenly aware that regeneration plans are unraveling across the city because the finances do not add up.
It is within this condition of urban ‘inbetweeness’ - waiting for the ‘blow-down’ - that the unit will primarily engage. Issues of conservation, preservation, longevity and permanence in relation to communities and the built environment will be considered, as initially we will design temporary structures and strategies to inhabit the ‘unexpected time’ that the Elephant has on its hands. Throughout the year we will develop a deep understanding of the physical and cultural context of the site. At the macro scale we will examine the palimpsest of urban plans and zoning strategies; at the micro scale we will search out local community groups and interpret personal stories and narratives. In order to speculate how best we might intervene in the future of the Elephant and Castle, we will be scrutinising its present and excavating its past, through observation and conversation with the people we meet along the way.
References
1. www.stratalondon.com
2. Picture Post (1949)
3. www.boomforlife.com
4. Promises to Keep: Thoughts in Old Age, Richard Hoggart (2005)
Bibliography
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs (1961)
Requiem for Detroit, Julian Temple (2009)
The Great Estate: The Rise & Fall of the Council House, Chris Wilson (2011)
www.homefromhome-online.com
www.thecarandtheelephant.com
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