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WIZZ MAGAZINE
JUNE-JULY 2012
FEATURE
LONDON
S
TANDING ON THE FRINGES OF LONDON’S
new Olympic Park, it might be Shanghai, Seoul
or some similarly super-fast developing part
of the world. To your left is the Pringle-shaped roof
of the Aquatics Centre, by Iraqi-British architect
Zaha Hadid, ahead is the vast sweep of the Olympic
Stadium while behind you, the glinting glass walls
of the Westfield Stratford City megamall. The sleek
modern railway station at Stratford where visitors
to the Games will alight is called ‘International’
– which is ironic, because until recently for many
Londoners a trip out to this eastern edge of town
had about the same appeal – and liklihood – as a
journey to Outer Mongolia.
But the image of East London as a region of
low-income deprivation stuck in a declining industrial
past is being reset. The prime example is the Olympic
site itself, formerly an area in which oils, chemicals
and dyes were manufactured, and trains built and
repaired, all left in a state of slightly sinister disrepair.
It’s now a Disneyland for design nerds and sports fans,
where the greatest athletes compete in gleaming,
futuristic arenas This is only the epicentre, however,
of a wave of regeneration that has washed over
the neighbouring postcodes; in summer 2012, the
well-informed traveller knows that East London is the
place to see the most exciting buildings, eat and drink
in the hippest restaurants and bars, and shop in the
most interesting boutiques and markets.
Those who couldn’t get their hands on prized
tickets for the sporting events will still be able to
pay a £10 entrance fee to explore the Olympic Park
where, inside, the sporting action will be broadcast
live on giant screens moored up on the River Lea. The
best overview of the site itself will be from the top
of the twisted red metal of Anish Kapoor ’s towering,
rollercoaster-like sculpture, the ArcelorMittal Orbit,
said to be influenced by the Tower of Babel. It is the
largest piece of public artwork in Britain, with a dining
area and viewing platform 100 metres up in the air.
ABOVE LEFT:
THE VIBE
BAR AT THE OLD TRUMAN
BREWERY IN SHOREDITCH
“East London has the
hippest bars, markets
and boutiques”
HELEN CATHCART