Squire and Partners in Lambeth
- Thread starter ricbake
- Start date
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
They are a symptom of the illness. It's not even in proportion. If the hotel rooms of the ultra rich were scaled in proportion to their actual wealth, they'd be the size of Buckhingham Palace.
editor
hiraethified
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
This discussion reminded me I went to the pre planning public exhibition on this development by Squires of the new Brixton HQ.
On hand were people from Squires. They were keen to point out they knew there were concerns about gentrification in Brixton. That they didn't want to be seen as contributing to this. That they wanted Squires, when they moved here , to be a involved in the community.
I am starting to feel this was all just PR.
What it does show is that Squires are well aware of the rich / poor divide in this area. That it's an issue.
On hand were people from Squires. They were keen to point out they knew there were concerns about gentrification in Brixton. That they didn't want to be seen as contributing to this. That they wanted Squires, when they moved here , to be a involved in the community.
I am starting to feel this was all just PR.
What it does show is that Squires are well aware of the rich / poor divide in this area. That it's an issue.
Yes, but if I had to pick something to get people to the barricades - "a living wage for all" Might be a slightly better battle cry to rally the troops than "equal sized hotel rooms for all"
Alex
teuchter
je suis teuchter
How, specifically, would you like them to be "involved in the community"?
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
editor
hiraethified
Way to miss the point, but, whatever.
editor
hiraethified
They'll cherrypick a few low-cost, but reasonably high profile local concerns to get involved with, trumpet the news loud and clear to prove they just love the Brixton community, and then sidestep any conversations about what they're doing to integrate with the wider community or why they shouldn't be seen as yet another nail in the gentrification coffin.
They offered one person I know - who ticks all their Brixton PR boxes perfectly - an offer she could barely refuse to move her business into their new premises.
It's how this thing works these days: super slick, manipulative PR smoke and mirrors, and token gestures slapped all over their puffed up PR releases. I guess some people buy this bullshit.
I've lost count of the times I've heard developers and incomers bandy around the word community and then seen them follow it up with a whole load of nothing.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Is this a bad thing?
editor
hiraethified
She's being used as a pawn for their PR purposes because her business and that of these architects to the super rich have precisely zero synergy. She'd be there to make them look good (and she was immediately aware of this).Is this a bad thing?
I told her to go for it if she was comfortable with this scenario and had some long term commitment from them, but I suspect some of her customers may find it an odd marriage. I can;t blame her for taking this opportunity.
But do I like rich incoming companies doing this kind of cynical PR manipulation so they can community-wash their image? No, I don't.
Rushy
basically a scrotum
snowy_again
Slush
deleted
T & P
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What evidence do you have that this was just a cynical PR exercise? How can you be sure, other than a suspicion or gut feeling (which ain't exaclty much proof of anything?
In fact, who the hell gets to decide which actions a business take constitute genuine engagement with the local community, and which are just PR exercises? They are opinions nothing else. A cynic could use the same argument to dismiss most gestures by private businesses as PR, so I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
I think we all know the answer to that one.
T & P
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Oh, I see what I did there... I was wondering why anyone would have trouble understanding what a paper towel is...
Rushy
basically a scrotum
exaclty
lefteri
Well-Known Member
editor
hiraethified
Oh I don't know, but I imagine when a company declares that they're opening an "independent bar/restaurant" in their new multi million pound premises but then adds "owned by us" in brackets, I'd say some level of cynicism is richly deserved. And then matching up their PR 'community' spin with reality often yields enlightening results.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
To make it clear. I didn't bring the issue up at the event I attended. They did.
So the ball is in there court.
T & P
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What they should ha
I'm not sure they would be in a better position to judge that unless the company in question has outright told them the only reason they are being offered subsidised space is only because they are trendy and groovy like the company itself. Was that the case here?
SpamMisery
Pretty comfortable here right under your skin
lefteri
Well-Known Member
So the local community is not in a position to judge whether attempts to engage the local community are successful or not?
Have a word with yourself
T & P
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A single person does not represent the entire local community; nor we know how many other people might have been offered similar deals, and what their thoughts might be. I'm pretty sure there are members of this forum who are members of the local community who might judge offers thus far as genuine attempts to engage the local community. Is their opinion less valid?
lefteri
Well-Known Member
I wasn't talking about any single person - try reading posts instead of assuming
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Your comment
made it sound like you had changed your mind since the exhibition - ie, at the time you thought it might be feasible that they could have a meaningful involvement in the community but that since then their actions have shown otherwise.
Suggested that you think there are things they could do which they are already not doing, or that they are actively doing things that displease you.
T & P
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And as I said, unless that person was openly told by the company they were only being offered a subsidised rent because of their perceived trendiness, the opinion of the person is subjective and as likely to be wrong as right.
It seems to me there is a drive to find fault with this firm at all costs and as soon as possible, even regarding actions that most people would consider to be positive. Subsided rent? The badtards!
lefteri
Well-Known Member
What person are you talking about? There's no relevance in your posts to the ones of mine you are replying to - are you talking to yourself?
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
In the context of architecture, "refurbish" usually means "repair to original condition", not "structurally and cosmetically alter" (which is what they've actually done), I think
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Heard it referred to as "that bellend" today on the bus. I didn't agree, but now I've had a good look at the pics, I can see what the old geezer meant.
