A Marylebone

Atlas•

Introduction

* You are here

A Marylebone Atlas is an education programme run by The Architecture Foundation, funded and supported by British Land, with additional input by The Portman Estate, McAleer & Rushe, and Jestico + Whiles, during autumn 2012. For the programme a group of 14 to 19 year old students from Westminster Academy mapped the physical urban environment, as well as the new developments within the area, and the social and perceived environments of the area between Oxford Street and Marylebone Road. This forms the backbone of this new atlas of Marylebone, a conceptual map written by the students, that charts the different users and uses of the area; incorporating economy, space, people and fiction. This mapping took place over a series of five workshops with writer Tom James, and photographer Theo Simpson of Mass Observation. Through photography, interviews, writing, site visits, and detailed observation of the way this part of the city works, the students collated and edited the publication, ready for it to be launched in December 2012.

54

Trees

The trees are the past of Marylebone. All there was was trees and grass. There were no buildings, no people. It was all calm. But then people came and they brought with them the buildings, churches, shops, roads, homes, and hotels that make Marylebone what it is now. When the people came the trees got locked up and the grass got killed.

There is a house in Gloucester Place Mews that is called ‘The Cottage’. In the garden there are no flowers. The roof is not thatched. There is no dog waiting at the back door. There is no veg growing in the garden. So why is it a cottage? What is Windsor Castle doing at 27–29 Crawford Place? What are the buildings of Marylebone pretending to be and why?

FictionArta Pacuku, Modestas Palmero, Yousif Tarek

Welcome to Marylebone

A safe affluent area of Westminster. It hosts Oxford Street, where – according to Selfridges – ‘Life is about creating yourself’. Behind the busy chain stores, where Christmas comes early, there are regal private parks (standing solitary of course) in the midst of bustling office blocks. And not forgetting all the quirky cafes and unique boutiques vying for attention. But turn a corner and you can enter a sheltered environment, but it isn’t as maintained as it initially seems. Cracking paint, smashed windows and crudely repaired stairs on the best of houses; and signs banning homeless people from the front of churches. Chairs discarded on the corner of Walmer Street. Barbed wire and bunting decorating alleyways clash with the public’s perception of the area. Looking at Marylebone it’s like fitting two mismatched pieces of a puzzle together. So where is the real Marylebone? It’s probably on Gloucester Place Mews, an almost idyllic road where Frank and Pat live. With their neighbours they showcase themselves with pot plants, benches and even a leopard on a waterfall.

< Frank and Pat's

< Portman Square

Selfridg

es >

< Benches

Trees >

Trees >

< Chair on Walmer Street

76

EconomyMohammed Al’Kinani, Dunia Rashid

Crawford Street >

<New Quebec Street

25 Crawford Street, W1H 1PL

This picture depicts two contrasting businesses in Marylebone. One business is doing well; bustling, full of goods, full of customers and colour. The shop next door has shut down, empty, nothing for sale, vacant, colourless. Although Marylebone has a diversity of shops, and a reputation built partly on retail, it does not mean that all the shops are doing well. This could also be a wider metaphor for the people living in Marylebone. It’s not only luxury houses that we see, with upper class people living in them. We also see council estates, with those of lower incomes living in them. This image is a metaphor. Perhaps not everyone living in Marylebone is rich and happy.

On New Quebec Street You’ll find La MasseritaA sense of ItalyThe smell of pizza

In Philglas and SwiggotYou’ll find James Bond wineTo make you look regal‘License to chill’For £139

In ArabesqueOn New Quebec StreetThe conversations never stopWhile the shisha pipes keep bubbling

In the Grazing GoatAn English pub and dinerPeople come for a SundayThat is 100% British

Red Sky, a Chinese restaurantOn New Quebec StreetCovered in chopsticks and Chinese charactersWith rubbish piled up outside

At the end of the streetA dentist, the slogan‘We fix smiles’Smells of disinfectant

The underwear shopPaolitas lingerie on the window

(Guaranteeing the future of mankind)

The unknown shopThe only shop with no titleMaybe it is sellingWhat you want to buy

All these shops, on New Quebec StreetSell different things to different peopleAll these shops, on New Quebec StreetTake you on a journey around the world

But one thing unites themBrings you back homeThe face of the noteElizabeth!The money being spentThe British Pound going round

< Frank and Pat's

< Portman Square

Selfridg

es >

< Benches

Trees >

Trees >

< Chair on Walmer Street

Crawford Street >

<New Quebec Street

< Towers of Marylebone

< Wyndham Yard

Molyneux

Street

>

Private Gardens >

Marylebone Flyover

Marylebone Road

Marylebone Road

Marylebone Road

Marylebone Road

Oxford Street Oxford Street

Oxford Street Oxford Street

Gloucester Place

Gloucester Place

Gloucester Place

Gloucester Place

Gloucester Place

Baker Street

Baker Street

Baker Street

Edgware Road

Edgware Road

Edgware Road

Edgware Road

10 Portman Square*

Portman Square*

Marble Arch House*

York House*

Edgware Road•

London Marylebone•

Baker Street •

Regents Park •

Bond Street •

Marble Arch •

Edgware Road•

Scale: 500ft| | |100m— — — — — — —

< Florist

Coffee Shop Owner >

Restaurant View >

Street View >< Hotel Doorman

< Crane View

< Builder

< Shop Helper

1110

SpaceMohammed Abdulsada, Sana Karaoui, Sara Mansour El Tani, Hussein Salim

< Towers of Marylebone

< Wyndham Yard

Molyneux

Street

>

Private Gardens >

The Towers of Marylebone

In Marylebone some people get to live in their own houses. Big, quiet houses, with no-one above or below them. This is because they can afford to pay the rent to stay alone. In Marylebone some people get to live in tower blocks. Small, noisy flats shared with other people. The noise comes from a flat above you getting fixed. Or from the children running to the lift. Or the old people chatting on their coffee morning. The noise also comes from the community around you. In these towers of Marylebone people can only afford to live together.

If you walk into Portman Square, in the morning, at 10am, this is how it feels:

Romantic.Beautiful.Peaceful.Empty.Dark. Lonely.Private.This public square has no public in it.

A warm welcome to Marylebone

On Molyneux Street the man in the gun shop came to the window and spat. He told us to f*** off.On Molyneux Street an Arab man told us he liked our project. On Molyneux Street an old lady said ‘I like the way you whistle’.Thinking about it, I won’t visit Molyneux Street again.

Business Class

• Lonely ‘gardens’• Clean buildings• Busy workers• No surprises

Economy Class

• Cheap estates• Broken windows• Trashed parks• Busy roads

1312

PeopleBruin Chan, Ibrahim Lamrani, Shahed Tofik

< Florist

Coffee Shop Owner >

Restaurant View >

Street View >< Hotel Doorman

< Crane View

< Builder

< Shop Helper

Builder

‘I live near Heathrow Airport. I have to come to work no matter how far it is. I like this area because it’s very nice and posh.’

Khaled Abbas (Coffee shop owner)

‘I own a coffee shop in this area, I live around here too. It’s quite a posh area.’

Shop Helper

‘I like this area because it’s quiet and posh and I like my job here.’

George (Hyatt Regency Doorman)

‘I’ve been working in this area for 40 years. I get to meet different people from different countries with different cultures. It’s quite a posh area.’

Recorded Conversations

I wanna do something tomorrowThe pre drink?Having a Halloween party at my houseSo you want to come?Tonight at 8.30. So call

Three women aged 35:Yeah, have done three in the last three days.I worked that one out.Oh!Look, there’s a sign pole…Isn’t that where we first started?

In Arabic he says:Stay there, I will grab a taxi from Edgware Road and I will come and pick you up. Stay there.

James Bernard (Florist)

‘I love this area because three generations of my family lived in this area, and I can imagine their footsteps on the streets.’

This homeless woman was moving from Edgware Road into Crawford Street. Maybe she thinks that by moving to the Marylebone area she will be given more money by the businessmen and women. The reality is that in the more economically mixed area of Edgware Road, more people might sympathise and reach into their pockets. In Crawford street it’s quieter and people might not take the time to stop and give her money.

Tom Keeley is the AF’s Education Manager. tom@architecturefoundation.org.uk

A Marylebone Atlas is funded by British Land.The Architecture Foundation is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

www.architecturefoundation.org.uk

Mohammed AbdulsadaMohammed Al’Kinani

Bruin ChanSana Karaoui

Ibrahim LamraniSara Mansour El Tani

Mushin MelvinArta Pacuku

Modestas PalmeroDunia RashidHussein SalimYousif TarekShahed Tofik

A Marylebone Atlas was researched and produced by:

Designed by Mass Observation Printed by Hato Press

Fiction Economy

SpacePeople