Impersonal Safety

Studio 21
Design 401
3729225

The City has a history of fortification and of self-interest. It has

managed not to bring its fortification into the 21st Century but to
reinstate it, in some ways to the expense of surrounding boroughs.

In this project I explore the history of the City’s fortification and who
its new defences protect, or, in whose interests it ultimately works.
 The City Walls
The City’s walls have evolved and dissolved in the 2000 years that London has existed. By
deduction, on what does the City of London place value?

a Ludgate
1 Blackfriars

2 Victoria b Newgate
Embankment

3 Temple Bar c Aldersgate

4 Holborn d Cripplegate

The Roman Wall - Security The Medieval Wall - Economic Power

In the Middle Ages England was unified under one king, but tenuously so and also at risk from foreign attack, so the solid city walls are still a necessity.
The Romans built the wall to protect themselves from the Celts? It was a physical wall to achieve this. However, a degree of permeability is necessary for supplies and to maintain the economy. The number of official and unofficial gates increases. The 5 Farringdon
bars are introduced to levy tolls before the physical gates in order to reduce congestion.

e Moorgate

6 Aldersgate

f Bishopsgate

7 Moorgate g Aldgate

8 Bishopsgate
10 Tower of London

The Bureaucratic Boundary - Bureaucratic Power The Ring of Steel - Security

9 Aldgate
Greater London has grown and been divided into a number of boroughs for easier management. The City maintains its boundaries, but is no longer While infintiely more permeable than the Roman Wall, the RoS is also a security tool. In the 20th century it was used to maintain the City’s position
surrounded by a wall. as a global economic power after fears emerged from the multiple IRA attacks in the area. The boundary’s permeability was key to this strategy as 11 London Bridge
the thousands of workers had to be able to operate as normal. The City marks its difference from London with dragon statues placed at key entrance
points.
The Ring of Steel
The City’s walls have evolved and dissolved in the 2000 years that London has existed. By
deduction, on what does the City of London place value?
1992
Baltic Exchange Bombing
In the 1990s the IRA started executing targeted
attacks in London, aiming for the economic
impacts of these to elicit a political response.
They bombed the Baltic Exchange in St. Mary
Axe in April, 1992. The City increased its security
measures, following plans it had developed earlier
while observing attacks in other parts of London.
These measures included a more visible police
presence and the use of CCTV, which they used to
determine the perpetrator of a later attack.
1970s - 1990s
The Troubles
Belfast is rocked by incredible violence, often in the
form of bombings, perpetrated by republicans and
unionists over Northern Ireland’s governance by the
British.
Belfast established a defensive ring around its
city centre in 1972 which it made permanent with
steel bars in 1974. This was an effective defensive
measure throughout the Troubles.
The Troubles
The Belfast Ring of Steel
1994 2010s
Permanance The Ring as we know it
After and despite the ceasefire of 1994, the City The main components of the Ring have remained
chose to make it’s Experimental Traffic Zone largely unchanged since its inception.
permanent, in the insiduous form of bollards,
paving and flowerbeds, so that it’s fortifications There are four physical components - the Camea,
took the appearance of street furniture. They also With or without pole, the Bollard, the Chicane and
upgraded the camera system introduced in 1992. the Police Booth. The latter is occupied at times of CCTV Pole
high security.
Booth
Bollard
Chicane
1993 2017
Bishopsgate Bombing 1997 Modernisation
Reactivation
In 2017, after the announcement in 2016 of further
The IRA set off another large bomb at Bishopsgate.
In response to the 1996 Docklands bomb, the RoS plans to upgrade the RoS, two terrorist attacks
The City’s businesses demanded protection and
was operational wihtin hours. The City questioned occurred in the vicinity of the City. In both cases,
the City pushed through the ‘Experimental Traffic
expanding the protective zone to include the a vehicle ran into pedestrians, then the drivers
Zone’ which consisted of plastic cone traffic control
Barbican and chose against it. They instead emerged and stabbed more victims.
measure officially meant to reduce pollution within
the city. It was knowon colloquially as the ‘ring expanded enormously West and again upgraded
CCTV capabilities. In rapid response the city threw up anti-vehicle
of plastic’, referencing the Belfast fortifications..
bollards. It is yet to emerge what their considered
The City of London Police chose to protect
A similar reactivation occurred after the September response to contemporary, person-focused
‘the greatest area logistically possible’ without
11 attacks. terrorism will be.
unacceptable traffic effects.
What does the RoS protect?
In the 21st century, what does the RoS protect?
By deduction, on what does the City of London place value?

Individuals Residents The Liveries Large Businesses

Over a 100 instances of sexual assault occurred in the City between September of Residents are scattered across the city. The Ring explicity detours around the most Many are based not only outside of the City, but outside of Greater London. They Some of the largest national and international businesses have headquarters outside
2017 and August of 2018. These occur both within and without the RoS. significant concentration of citizens at the Barbican. have less economic value for the City since their importance in the Middle Ages. of the Ring. This is probably due to location changes since the Ring’s inception.

Individuals are not protected. Residents are not protected. The liveries are not protected. Businesses are not protected.

Why the businesses?

The City has unique economic advantages that it has leveraged and grown over
centuries. Wealth is a historic value for the City, maintained since its formation, lost
in time but ‘ancient’ to the Magna Carta. The City had been governing itself long
before England was unified.

The City’s independence from the British government is leverage to an end, used to
generate and manage unchecked resources offshore for itself and for international
corporations. The City recognises the importance of big business in maintaining
and growing its wealth and so it gives companies within it votes to elect council; it
gives those companies direct political influence. There are numerous direct quotes
from the City’s website and representatives it which it expresses how it works in its
own interests and those of financial services. < Our job is to look after number one,
the Square Mile. What happens outside our boundary is not our concern...>

In times of trouble or of potential competition the City does what it needs to to

reinforce its importance. In the 80s it saw significant change happening, including
electronic, and recognised that its building stock could not accomodate the
requirements that would emerge. New buildings shot up, many of which dominate
the City as it is seen today.

It is these buildings and the companies that inhabit them that the City is most eager
to protect. In doing so it maintains it value, its global position and, eventually and
always, its wealth.
A Dark Walk
After studying where the City locates its official lighting, I walk its darkest streets.
-