Disrupting the Proper (of Petticoat Lane)

Key words: old market, redefine, redesign, permanent museum, culture, utopia, immigration, society, architecture, London

Petticoat Lane, one of the most historical markets in London. It still keeps an ordinary market characteristic to sell lots cheap and discounted clothes, shoes, bags and watches from the late 18th to 19th century. Today, although someone considers that it has lost its competition and figure increasingly due to the impact of global economy, visitors from over the world can notice that Petticoat Lane still has its irreplaceable value, which embraces unique fabric design industry and its great cultural capital. For instance, for several centuries it always has been a region of certain social unrest and transformation that has concentrated on the immigration and minority community issue such as Jewish and African. Their enormous effect was in a wide range of economic, historical and social setting which are associated with their self-identities at Petticoat Lane.

Each area has so much of its own ‘face’ that I call it ‘personality’. There is something involving its complicated history backdrop, its living space, its residents, and even its working class. When I visited Petticoat Lane and was looking at sites, I sensed Petticoat Lane is an amusing region where I did find certain contradictions between some shabby habitations and modern office building style. Further, I discovered market here is apparently the large African textile bazaar where offers wholesale clothes in Africa style in English domain. In light of one popular account, Petticoat Lane is called ‘a destination shopping area’ for purchasing large quantities and latest design of West African clothes. I was very surprised at its fascinating cultural phenomenon. Perhaps, the area of Petticoat lane itself with its own spatial personality has specific operations at different points in history. To illustrate more what I think, according to Foucault’s concept of space, he claimed that nowadays’ space which emerges from social operating system, our theory, and the world of people cares which is not an innovation but is development from historical experience and our daily life practice. (1984) Petticoat Lane, a historical place with its chaos immigrant residents was originally set up in about 1608, and among the 1750s. After immigrant arrived and resided in this large city, they utilized their original weaving skills seeking better life. For example, the initial immigrant Huguenot weavers were selling their petticoats and rich clothes. After that, along with more and more West African communities migrated at Liverpool in London due to certain colonial contacts. Most Jewish immigrant traders and dealers were directly aimed at Africans’ marketing. These communities brought distinctive and multiple life models to Petticoat Lane from wherever they original came and born. Particularly, they advocated for their community cohesiveness and cultural expression though the distinctive fabric industry. For two instances, first is showing fabric of its material can operates the dominant a culture’s aesthetics. The second, African clothes were continually dealt due to it can grows a centuries-ancient pattern of trading generally acknowledged. Then, they rose up textile industry which ever was an important fashion industry center of London. On the basis of these reason, today, from Jewish to African and some communities, Petticoat Lane has various kinds of different socio-economic profile such as woven fabric trade especially.

The purpose of this design idea: Times change, new buildings revolve around and formerly popular market is gradually vanishing. In addition, with the rapid process of globalization and the development of global wide web, an increasingly fast fashion retail market is threatening the position of Petticoat Lane. Regarding this, I asked myself: What people have in this area and even what do I can value about? As what Michel de Certeau examined ‘to plan a city is both to think the very plurality of the real and to make that way of thinking the plural effective; it is to know how to articulate it and be able to do it’. (1984:159) From my viewpoint, Petticoat Lane’s wealthy culture diversity and unique fabric industry can be asserted that they have become internalized as intrinsic portion of its public legacy of Petticoat Lane. Particularly, textile industry is not merely a commercial activity for their livelihood. Its evolution with timeline more comprises a wider context of significant influences of immigrant and social heritage which people create their dreams and passion jointly. Sometimes, the perception of space, house or even a whole region is like shelters for people to shape their dreams, ideation and memories together. (Foucault, 1984) As I have emphasized, textile industry as a key element of Petticoat Lane’s social structure which includes communities context and local culture heritage meaning due to their most essential industrial type of all timeline. Therefore, my purpose of this designing project is going to focus on Textile, which is vital to point out that it indicates what inheritance this space actual has and people are gazed upon results people to discipline their own behaviors. Let me explain more what I mean by this idea. I imagine Petticoat Lane is one kind of Civilized world, which is an independent nation such as ‘second Atlantis’. In this ‘Petticoat Lane kingdom’ people have their own life things rule, their own core and unique manufacturing and so on. Therefore, based on this assumption of Petticoat Lane kingdom, mainstream society in this nation is associated with those so-called ‘immigration communities’. Hence, immigrant residents of Petticoat Lane are seemed to be its citizen. Moreover, weaving trade as this nation’s top core industry which includes rich cultural legacy, then it will be showed to the people who come from the other ‘nation’ and also makes a dialogue to local people of this kingdom to realize what has been existed at this area with desirable to the maintenance of their won cultural identities. Additionally, from my point of view, hybrid formats of weave style with the street as Petticoat Lane gallery. According to Foucault’s notion of space, ‘Museums and libraries have become heterotopias in which time never stops building up and topping its own summit, even at the end of the century, museums and libraries were the expression of an individual choice.’ (1984: 5) Therefore, Based on Foucault’s perspective of space and time….

Therefore, I plan to design a gallery for Petticoat Lane, which is just called the gallery of feeling Petticoat Lane. It will be more emphasis for development strategies that will be designed to take into account the needs of the local community. So, I aims to present the essence and uniqueness of textile of Petticoat Lane culture, which shows how the local people of this space respects and preserves their culture capacity. Further, to let visitors experiencing the value of Petticoat Lane in order to think about the fabric’s unique value style when they travel to London.

Design detail and operating function: I just want to use and make something from here, Petticoat Lane itself has. Therefore, there is an empty ruin in the major street of Petticoat Lane what I suppose could be redesigned. Further, when I wanted to turn a historic but wreckage building at Petticoat Lane into a performance venue, I consider that how to transform and rebuild the value of a wasteland where have been a worthless into some evens or acts that have worth? Using historical ruin of Petticoat Lane as the gallery position where just is located on the heart of Petticoat Lane. It is a way highlighting local characteristic and could be a venue where can collect some events to express how tourists view and perceive Petticoat Lane. Further, it will be hosted and re-created a gallery from the history of textile information to certain set of images and cultural identities connected to the African reputation of the cloth shops and their wares. It is like catwalk creating an opportunity for this space to rise up initial fashion clothes business. The project will be operated for perennial, is called: The gallery of feeling Petticoat Lane. It is might produced by some arts commissioning group or local fabric shopkeeper who want to propagate their own design or commercial idea. However, specifically for this fashion conception, it could not be consider that it defiantly will be raised up to a higher position and becoming an appropriate fashion branding to bring futuristic fashion to this gallery project like its vigorous period before but it is creating a network across this area. Then, talking about its actual design works, I want to gather materials from other derelict sites across this region with which will be constructed a structure inside the gallery. I was captivated by this ruins which exterior full with local graffiti. I am not going to replicate a small-scale fabric factory. Thus, while the external of the building itself operates a role of local living atmosphere for the space of Petticoat lane, the inside can feature fashion fabric, certain innovative technology and art activities to create an unforgettable experience in which the dramatic ruins of a petticoat center gallery. However, my purpose is to develop this spatial identity via this gallery plan such as a using fabric material such as its significant fabric including Pagne, Laces, Wax prints, Sari Georges translation way to mark and present it’s culturally and commercially importance and exploring the historical value context. It’s unique exterior responses to social economic context and real-time data to reflect Petticoat Lane’s ever-changing mood in its historic and essential portion of weaving culture and vivid color. I hope I will make real magic for the 24 days. Therefore, It can be hosted each performances or any events around the clock for 24 days. This designing project of gallery will involve lots performers from whole kinds of disciplines of textile. Organizers here who can be each shopkeepers as what I mentioned before, visitors will not know what is on when. Because of one concept of this gallery to feel Petticoat Lane is that ‘as you go in, you would not know what is going to show. The intention of this idea is to level up every events and means. It is a dialogue between local culture and visitors that very much the space’s speaking rather than a performance venue. The inside part of this gallery will be a change reserving a place in the audience, which might will number around 20 to 30 people and queues are anticipated at peak times.

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#permanentmuseum #culture #immigration #society #architecture #utopia #redefine #oldmarket #redesign