Chunnel Vision

Legibly London

Written by Amanda MacKenzie

Walking in London is barmy.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not talking about a jaunt along the Thames Path to Greenwich. More about finding my way around the city and with a minimum of hassle. You try standing on a corner, poring over your A-Z whilst trying to tune out the competing bedlam of shop fronts, sheer glass offices, street ads, urban clutter. Now try doing it an hour past lunchtime. Come to think of it, where is the nearest place to grab a bite round here?

But the cavalry’s on the way, and flying the banner of Legible (leg-ible, gettit?) London. Almost lost amid the tra-la-la of this year’s London Festival of Architecture, this new scheme is an intelligent attempt to make the city more navigable on foot. Supported by Transport for London (rather nobly, it seems to me), Legible maps should satisfy both striders (“time is money”) and strollers (“now, that looks interesting”). They’ll show key buildings and landmarks in 3D, give estimated walking times, and even face the right way. The real clincher, though, is that they divide the capital back into “neighbourhoods” (eg.Chinatown, Theatreland) and “villages” (Soho, Marylebone.)

Neighbourhood, village, quartier – call it what you will. It goes right to the heart of how people make sense of their surroundings, something Paris has always appreciated. The first Legible maps are already in place around Bond Street…I mean, the village of Mayfair.