Spaces of Silvertown

This walk led by writer and journalist, Owen Hatherley will investigate the role and history of public spaces in the Royal Docks. This three-hour walking tour will take participants through the side of the Royal Docks closest to the Thames, at North Woolwich and Silvertown following the linear path created by the disused railway that ran through the area. Along the way participants will pass some of London's largest scale surviving industry such as at the Tate and Lyle Refinery, old public buildings such as Brick Lane music hall and new public spaces such as the Thames Barrier Park. 

Hatherley will prompt for discussion around the changing architectural landscape of the Royal Docks, its history and plans for future redevelopments of the area. Exploring the strange incoherence of the area, with successive plans laid on top of each other and never entirely joining up, Hatherley will look at the scattered traces of the ‘People's Plan' for the Royal Docks to the John Major era conservative nostalgia of 'Britannia Village', next to the almost wilfully placeless Dubai-on-Thames of the 2010’s, ending at the current frontier of the derelict-for-decades Millennium Mills. Participants will be invited to listen and reflect on how architecture has responded to socio-political and economical changes to the area and altered the conditions for navigating the urban landscape.  The walk will begin at King George V DLR station.