A culture clash continues at the Southbank Centre in London, a 1960s Brutalist arts complex on the river Thames, exemplifying the fight between self-organised public repurposing of urban fabric and the top-down commodification of the neo-liberal city. A concrete undercroft at the site that has been an informal mecca for skateboarders since the 1970s, is currently threatened by a 120-million-pound redevelopment plan to turn the space into a series of restaurants.
The promise of revenue from the commercial outlets being used to support the artistic and education programme of the Southbank Centre, and relocation of the skatepark upriver, has not washed with the public however. A record 27,286 objections to the development were delivered to the local council, making it the most unpopular planning application in history and the signs are for once that non-commercial community forces will prevail. p (rgw)
The Southbank skatepark is in the undercroft of an arts complex designed by
the Greater London Council architects department in the 1960s. (Photo: Sam Ashley)
Campaign film “The Bigger Picture” made by Long Live Southbank.
(Video: Henry Edwards-Wood, courtesy LLSB)
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