Over this past week and a bit, I’ve been fortunate to be
involved in a number of projects and potential job interviews where I get to be
a part of something I enjoy greatly. The
flip-side of this is that it has involved quite a bit of travelling so naturally
things like this get pushed back. Today
I want to talk about my experiences of these journeys and the minor details
that I found interesting through them.
The idea of commuting is of course not an uncommon sight to behold,
especially in the capital city of a nation, but being unable to drive I’ve
always had the concept of commuting in my sight as a means to combat this
issue. For many people, the use of
public transport for work is a mundane thing as it naturally becomes an
everyday occurrence, but for me I’ve always had an enjoyment of travelling in
an environment where I can continue to do other things while in transit. This may be due to not experiencing said
journeys in such high volume as the typical commuter, but time will tell
whether this could become a thing.
The journeys I had last week revolved around a need to
commute into London via a combination of Bus and Tube within a timeframe of 1-3
hours, with minimal need to change lines between destinations. Because of this, I was able to do last minute
prep for interviews and consider some last minute ‘blue sky’ thinking for some
ideas that may seem a bit odd. While doing
this, I started to consider the change in environment both internally (the
train) and externally (local environment) and see how much was truly happening
architecturally.
As my closest tube station is Epping, my journey would
always start on the Central line moving into London via Stratford bringing with
it a mostly natural environment of trees and fields with a range of typical
post-war terrace housing and older Victorian dwellings as I got within greater London. Most of this didn’t really interest me, but
what did was a rather large cemetery around Woodford / Buckhurst Hill (I think
within that range maybe slightly further) which featured a range of colours
from the donated flowers of loved ones contrasting the grey headstones
dominating the landscape. Internally,
the carriage was an older model juddering along representing a line that could
possibly do with some maintenance bringing an interesting dynamic to the
passengers; with some carrying on their day and others showcasing a visual
dislike for the situation. The advertisements
on show presented a fresh-foods monthly sub-box service (something that I
personally don’t find much interest in) and vistas of the Las Vegas strip with
that ever present ‘what goes in Vegas stays in Vegas’ which in my experience
doesn’t really happen these days due to the advent of instant-access social
media and my past two weeks of Facebook.
The later parts of my journeys, in particular one to Harrow,
felt rather different to this but in subtle ways (if that makes sense
somehow?) My experience of western London
is somewhat limited to Hammersmith and upon talking to a number of friends /
family they seemed to think that the area was rather upmarket (generally
speaking not specifically the Borough). What
I was met with was a continued lowering of building density you would expect
and a range of Victorian / post-war housing and the occasional parkland or
stadium. With that being said, going
past Wembley Stadium it was interesting to see the range of corrugated iron
sheds near to the track being dwarfed by this iconic structure; making me think
about the Concept of high-art ‘Pillar of Fire’ in action around its revellers in
their settlements that pale in comparison in the brief time I was able to see
it while going past. The train itself
was a much more modern version with larger interior space and a smooth ride,
aiding my ability to continue to write some plans and listen to an audiobook
without physical or audio interruption.
Overall, my past week of journeys have been an interesting
experience for me and I hope to be able to have this potential means of working
with people further beyond my usual local historic environment. I don’t want to be held back with potential
projects / jobs because the commute maybe a bit long and I do enjoy having the
time to have some time to jot down thoughts and relax on the way to work. Of course, time will tell if this viewpoint
stays but here’s to joining the ranks of some million+ people who do it every
day.
One last thought, on the bus from Epping, there was an
advert for Chlamydia by the NHS showcasing its potential hidden growth and ease
of treatment with an aesthetic I would class as a cross between ‘visual novel’
and ‘graffiti’. A minor point but I
found it funny : )
No comments:
Post a Comment