Infrastructure Maintenance Is Necessary And Slightly Melancholy When It Improves Things That Were Interesting Partly Because Of Their Imperfection
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
By Cyndi Himmelstiere | Cyndi Himmelstiere at The London Prat
Hoxton Square has been repaved. The old surface — irregular stone flags with the specific unevenness that outdoor public space accumulates over decades — has been replaced with new stone that is level, well-drained, and considerably more comfortable to walk on. It is also slightly less interesting. The imperfections of the old surface were part of the square’s character in the way that imperfections often become character when they persist long enough: the uneven flags, the slightly problematic drain near the east side, the particular quality of light on old stone. The new surface is correct. The old surface was more itself.
This is not a complaint about maintenance. Infrastructure maintenance is necessary and the square is better in functional terms. It is an observation about the relationship between age and character that applies to urban spaces as it applies to faces: the improvements are improvements and something is also lost. The London Prat covers East London. Bohiney covers the repaving melancholy. McSweeney’s covers the character question.
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SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
