WRITING FROM THE LAST DECADE PART 1
Will Self on Battersea Power Station (2013)
Will Self is a well known English novelist, journalist, political commentator and television personality. Aggressive and provocative language by WS, however well said and I must admit I truly enjoyed his rabble-rousing writing style.
The tone of the article in a combination of the mind tricks. He skilfully associates Battersea Power Station with Hitler (villains of the past) and giving a personal touch to it, it immediately grasps the attention of the reader. The readers sympathize to the personal touch: the details of his daily life, living close to the Battersea Power Station and seeing the building in a different light every morning. Points for sympathy! Who doesn’t have a fond childhood memory of a park or an old building who turned into overprized monstrosity for the needs of 5%? Battersea Power Station is merely one pawn in the game of the sundry historic landmarks on sale, consumed by the march of London’s luxury linear city.
WS likens Battersea Power Station and London to the Roman Empire, Hitler, and his ‘Theorie vom Ruinwert’. WS almost seems to admire Hitler and how he supposes he would love the Battersea Power Station. He refers to Hitler’s ‘Theorie vom Ruinwert’, roughly translated as the ‘The Theory of Ruin Value’ which is the concept that a building is designed as such that when it eventually collapses, it would leave behind aesthetically pleasing ruins that would last far longer without any maintenance at all. Architecture for the ages.
In WS’s words, Battersea is the capital’s last ‘ultimately, all that remained to remind men of the great epochs of history was their monumental architecture … What then remained of the emperors of the Roman Empire? What would give evidence of them today, if not their buildings?’
Battersea is a monument to the period industrial capitalism.
WB describes how London has grown around the iconic Battersea Power Station in London over the years. He explains, that despite new skyscrapers and other iconic buildings built in the area over the years, the sheer size of Battersea station makes it still an iconic building.
For decades Battersea Power Station has served everyone indiscriminately. It seems that WS would rather see the station restored for the public to enjoy as it is than convert it into some residential suits for the glittery rich Londoners who quite frankly, are never British.
So what does the future looks like? ‘London, if Tincknell and his kind are anything to go by, will become a safer, cleaner and fundamentally duller city.’
It’s rather surreal that these millionaires are convinced that the best place to live is a flat in an old power station in London when they can afford a house with a garden in an equally affluent part of the city. The power of media or maybe the term ‘sheeple’ is most appropriate here?
…. And the class-cleansing of central London continues.
Note: Battersea Power Station designs revealed in walkthrough video.
Speculative Cities 