On South Bank: The Production of Public Space

302 Pages·2014·3.44 MB·English

by  Alasdair J. H. Jones

On SOuth Bank: the PrOductiOn Of
PuBlic SPace
re-materialising cultural Geography
dr Mark Boyle, department of Geography, university of Strathclyde, uk,
Professor donald Mitchell, Maxwell School, Syracuse university, uSa and
dr david Pinder, Queen Mary university of london, uk
nearly 25 years have elapsed since Peter Jackson’s seminal call to integrate
cultural geography back into the heart of social geography. during this time, a
wealth of research has been published which has improved our understanding of
how culture both plays a part in, and in turn, is shaped by social relations based
on class, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexuality and so on. in
spite of the achievements of this mountain of scholarship, the task of grounding
culture in its proper social contexts remains in its infancy. this series therefore
seeks to promote the continued significance of exploring the dialectical relations
which exist between culture, social relations and space and place. its overall aim
is to make a contribution to the consolidation, development and promotion of the
ongoing project of re-materialising cultural geography.
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On South Bank: the Production
of Public Space
alaSdair J.h. JOneS
London School of Economics, UK
© alasdair J.h. Jones 2014
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
alasdair J.h. Jones has asserted his right under the copyright, designs and Patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing company
Wey court east 110 cherry Street
union road Suite 3-1
farnham Burlington, Vt 05401-3818
Surrey, Gu9 7Pt uSa
england
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Jones, alasdair.
On South Bank : the production of public space / by alasdair J.h. Jones.
pages cm. – (re-materialising cultural geography)
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-1-4094-4003-1 (hardback) – iSBn 978-1-4094-4004-8 (ebook) –
iSBn 978-1-4724-0409-1 (epub) 1. South Bank (london, england) 2. Public spaces–
Social aspects–england–london. 3. Social interaction–england–london. 4. urban
parks–Social aspects–england–london. i. title.
ht133.J646 2014
307.7609421–dc23
2013041846
iSBn 9781409440031 (hbk)
iSBn 9781409440048 (ebk-Pdf)
iSBn 9781472404091 (ebk-PuB)
V
Printed in the united kingdom by henry ling limited,
at the dorset Press, dorchester, dt1 1hd
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Abbreviations xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1 Introduction 1
2 Public Space as a Research Setting 29
3 Boundary Effects: Morphology and Activity at South Bank 51
4 South Bank as Theme Park? Public Space and the Practical
Accommodation of Disorder 87
5 Play and Public Space: Theorising Ludic Practices at
South Bank 143
6 ‘The Stamp of the Definitive’: From ‘Loose Space’ to
‘Public Realm’ at South Bank 179
7 Conclusion: Time to Stand Back? The Reinvented
Southbank Centre 225
Bibliography 259
Appendix 1 275
Appendix 2 277
Index 279
This page has been left blank intentionally
List of Figures1
1.1 Aerial photograph of South Bank 3
1.2 South Bank sketch by Cedric Price (1983). This perspective
sketch for ‘The Thing’ formed part of Cedric Price’s proposals for
the South Bank 20
1.3 The ‘Festival Riverside’ before, during and after construction
[clockwise from upper-left] 22
3.1 Contrasting external public seating at the Hayward Gallery 53
3.2 Instances of symbolic and architectural micro-segregation on
South Bank 55
3.3 One of four semi-permanent floor-standing signs for ‘Starbucks
at the Hayward’ (2003 on). This sign bears the graffiti ‘Stop this
insanity f*ck Starbucks’ 57
3.4 Much ‘activity’ observed on South Bank was conducted alone, be
that reading, sorting belongings, people watching or gazing into
space 59
3.5 The area beneath the South Bank end of Hungerford Bridge has
been proposed by the Southbank Centre as a possible location for
a ‘skate area’ for skateboarders and others 62
3.6 Skaters and others relaxing in the vicinity of the QEH undercroft 64
3.7 ‘Moving Units’ (circled) and the delineation of skateboarders’ space
at South Bank (with the yellow line visible in the second image) 68
3.8 A dustbin (circled) placed in the QEH undercroft by the Southbank
Centre as a result of a request from undercroft users 71
3.9 The ‘Arena’ sculpture (John Maine, 1983–1988) fronting the RNT 78
3.10 An additional line in the undercroft (first red [with the instruction
‘stay behind’], then white [with the clearer instruction ‘stand
behind the line’]) instructs passers-by to stand back. The original
yellow line is visible at the top of the images 80
3.11 A BMXer lands on the Queen’s Walk after spinning out of the
QEH undercroft. The red/white line [rough position superimposed
as a dashed white line] was since added to prevent collisions
between BMXers and passers-by 81
1 All copyright is author’s own unless stated otherwise.
viii On South Bank: The Production of Public Space
3.12 The physical separation of the activities of the QEH undercroft and
the riverside walk by a metal barrier erected after the completion
of my fieldwork 84
4.1 A rare instance of the literal lockdown of external space on South
Bank (a metal gate, circled, denying access to the National Theatre’s
‘Bayliss Terrace’) 92
4.2 CCTV cameras in place on South Bank (circled) and being
installed in the QEH undercroft 97
4.3 Two ‘Headline Security’ guards sit facing the river on
Queen’s Walk 102
4.4 A ‘First Security’ guard chats to a seated passer-by on the
Queens Walk 102
4.5 A couple of skaters (circled) roll through ‘Theatre Square’
fronting the National Theatre 106
4.6 The ‘loose’ basis of the yellow line (indicated by arrow in first
image) as a boundary – during fieldwork skaters and bikers alike
breached it regularly 108
4.7 On a quiet sunday afternoon skaters ‘session’ two ‘spots’ on South
Bank from where they would often be quickly moved on 109
4.8 A graffiti-artist (circled) at work ‘in broad daylight’ (and in plain
view of the CCTV camera in the foreground at the top of the
image) in the undercroft 117
4.9 In this 2005 photo the graffiti-covered boards of the undercroft
are clear, as is the graffiti-artists’ delimitation of their artwork
to these boards 118
4.10 Plywood hoardings still partially visible in the lower section of
the undercroft (N.B. the ‘bin’ provided by the Centre) and
a ‘Graffiti Solutions’ van parked up outside the undercroft to
remove excessive graffiti 119
4.11 More London hoardings promoting the site as offering ‘more
views, more space, more diversity, more’ 121
4.12 The a priori signed exclusion of certain activities operationalised
in the open spaces of ‘More London’ 122
4.13 Two of the few ‘private property’ signs displayed on the
Southbank Centre estate. These two signs were themselves not
immune to artistic intervention, with graffiti-style stickers stuck
on top of them 123
4.14 ‘Headline’ security guards (circled in second image) at various
places around the South Bank. Note the ‘prominence’ of the guards
– their visibility, ‘masculinity’ and presence in pairs or groups 125
4.15 A security guard being asked directions on Theatre Square 129
List of Figures ix
4.16 ‘Personalised’ signage in a passageway under Waterloo Bridge
near the Hayward Gallery 131
4.17 ‘Everybody needs a place to think’ plaques on the wooden and
concrete benches of the Southbank Centre 132
4.18 A ‘Moving Unit’ in the QEH undercroft is used to label the
undercroft as ‘South Bank’ and the ‘wall of fame’ (Vincent) at the
back of the undercroft 133
4.19 A list of prohibited activities at one of the entrances to Union
Square, San Francisco (note the ‘deviant’ man sleeping in the
second image) 134
4.20 Examples of street entertainment on the Queen’s Walk – a giant
bubble-blower (circled), a pianist dressed in period costume and
a mural artist 140
5.1 ‘Recomposition’ of city surfaces by skateboarders – the author
‘boardslides’ a block in Manhattan, Winstan Whitter performs a
‘360 flip’ on the QEH undercroft banks, Kip Sumpter ‘wallrides’ out
of the QEH undercroft 147
5.2 Users ‘twist’ the ‘ideological content’ of street furniture at South
Bank, practising an out of the way corner as gym, or a bench as a
place to lie down 148
5.3 The arena sculpture as viewed from a National Theatre terrace 151
5.4 Young people play on the Arena sculpture – note the ‘playful’
uses of the sculpture by adults too and nearby adults’ general
indifference to young peoples’ play 152
5.5 An early middle-aged man scrambles over a section of the Arena
sculpture while his son looks on 156
5.6 An urban ‘reader’ (mis)interprets benches laid out in a row on the
RFH terrace as stepping-stones 158
5.7 A couple of friends size up the QEH balustrade (which they later
try to scramble up); a woman poses for a photo on an upper NFT
terrace 162
5.8 A row of concrete ‘everybody needs a space to think’ benches
lined up along the riverside wall of the QEH 162
5.9 Despite having a backrest, the woman in the right of this image
rejects this bench’s built-in functionality and uses the QEH wall
as a backrest instead 163
5.10 Various pieces of street furniture around the South Bank are used
as seats by passers-by 163
5.11 Necessary misuse – a man sleeping rough on a RFH bench 164
5.12 A ‘ Moving Unit’ being skated in the QEH undercroft [also
Figure 3.7] – note how the ‘unit’ is simultaneously being used,
with apparent obliviousness to the approaching skater, as a
regular bench 167