
In Search of Context in ‘Alfresco Twickenham’
During the relative calm of July in the United Kingdom, when the COVID curve is flattened (for now), it is time to explore. I discussed Church Street in Twickenham last month as a stage for the mythical “Equity Street in Pandemica.” Today I returned to examine how the street has evolved as an alfresco icon, with Sunday dining underway on a cloudy day.
Church Street is closed for weekend street fairs on a semi-regular basis, but the more pervasive table and chair motif is new, and appears more spontaneous than customary. “Customary,” as well as the tongue-in-cheek captions below, are purposefully phrased, probing at questions of context (such as the overlay of a passeggiata on Twickenham) that will be discussed much more in-depth in Sustaining a City’s Culture and Character upon release.
Tactical urbanists do not always discuss whether the shoe fits, but only whether the shoe is needed. That may be enough for a pandemic in search of solutions. Or to endure, a unity of cultural tradition with imported solutions may become an outright necessity.






[…] ultimately, survival. It also addresses another dilemma: depending on the context of a place, or my mindset at different times, I find it hard to have confidence in what I see. I need the back story, which starts with a tale […]