The best architects get close the users of their designs, so it was a delight today to chance upon Ken Creig, whose firm has been responsible for the £6.5 million transformation of London's 18th century Borough Market. He was in the far more modest environs of Whitecross Street, EC1, which this weekend held a food festival to celebrate its own improvements, also designed by Ken. As Islington Council tells us:
The market dates back to medieval times and being outside the City walls, was a favourite place for travelling pedlars and tinkers who were not allowed into the City where markets and prices were strictly controlled by the guilds.
I knew none of this when I paused by a stall to sample some very authentic-looking olive oil, and on asking the stallholder about his import business discovered the story even more interested than anticipated, as you can hear from the movie. The oil is great too.
Update: as I clear up a heap of papers I find a summary of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation research report: Markets and social spaces extolling their virtues, and offering guidelines on development:
for markets to function well as social spaces, various factors are significant. Essential attributes include: a diverse range of products fitting well with local needs and tastes; cafés or food vans on site or nearby; good access to the site, especially by public transport; an active and engaged community of traders; and a sense of the unexpected
Nice when the research bears out personal experience. Whitecross Street deserves to succeed.
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