Returning to London

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As mentioned after the final crit in Seoul, the British railway system is an interesting comparison in terms of guiding through the city, and making a lasting pattern, as part of the city’s infrastructure. I have come across several disused railway tracks which are of interest. Their intended uses are no longer in practice but their impact on the city remains.

An association with transport systems

During discussions a few weeks ago, various comparisons were made with retaining walls in England and Seoul. Prior to my discoveries in Korea, I had always associated retaining walls with transport systems. When I tried to think of retaining walls back in England, I thought of motorways, railways and rivers. As Peter Ferretto mentioned there is a ‘blindness’ to retaining walls, as if we don’t realise that they’re there, and yet we feel their presence because of the way they can dictate and shape the city.

It would be ludicrous to suggest that retaining walls play a similar role in London as they do in Seoul – namely because the topography doesn’t require so many of them. However, when looking at railways in London, the presence of retaining walls reveal themselves once again.