The Walking Reading Group on Participation, London, 5th JUNE, 2018

The Walking Reading Group: Changing East London, 6.30-9pm, Tuesday 5th June, was commissioned by The Bartlett School of Architecture as part of the London Festival of Architecture

For this walk, we revisited a route and texts from our 2014 edition of The Walking Reading Group on Participation, originally devised with Kit Caless. We read texts by JG Ballard, Gareth E Rees, Laura Olfield Ford and Anna Minton to explore concepts of dystopia and utopia, consumerism and gentrification in this rapidly changing area of London. On the midsummer evening, we wandered through the Olympic Park and then into the depths of Westfield Shopping Centre. We returned the Olympic Park, stopping by the Orbit, before walking down the tow path by the River Lea. We took a turn in the abundant greenery of Wick Woodland before finishing under the Lea Bridge Road.