London’s mega event heritage and the development of UCL East

Jonathan Gardner

doi:10.14324/111.9781800081826

London’s mega event heritage and the development of UCL East

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

This chapter explores how the development of UCL East and the other emerging cultural institutions of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (Stratford, London) have been shaped by the area’s historical development and the mega event that precipitated their emergence – the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It locates this inquiry within a longer-term historical perspective on the relationship between large-scale educational initiatives that emerged as a form of ‘legacy’ from other, earlier, ‘mega events’ like the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Roche 2000) which have traditionally been seen as key signifiers of London’s modern urban development and, increasingly, as part of its heritage (see Johansen 1996). Fundamentally, it seeks to ask how far developments like UCL East are relying on particularised or limited conceptualisations of their host site and city’s pasts – both reified as ‘heritage’ or otherwise – within this future-oriented vision.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Co-curating the City
Subtitle of host publication	Universities and urban heritage past and future
Editors	Clare Melhuish, Henric Benesch, Dean Sully, Ingrid Martins Holmberg
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	UCL Press
Chapter	7
Pages	154-176
ISBN (Electronic)	9781800081826, 9781800081857, 9781800081864
ISBN (Print)	9781800081840, 9781800081833
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800081826
Publication status	Published - 24 May 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

mega events
UCL East
institutional myths
Great Exhibition London
London 2012 Olympics
legacy
East Bank
South Bank Exhibition
culture-led regeneration
urban studies

Access to Document

10.14324/111.9781800081826Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)

GardnerJ2022TheDevelopmentOfUCLEastFinal published version, 1 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)

Cite this

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title = "London{\textquoteright}s mega event heritage and the development of UCL East",

abstract = "This chapter explores how the development of UCL East and the other emerging cultural institutions of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (Stratford, London) have been shaped by the area{\textquoteright}s historical development and the mega event that precipitated their emergence – the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It locates this inquiry within a longer-term historical perspective on the relationship between large-scale educational initiatives that emerged as a form of {\textquoteleft}legacy{\textquoteright} from other, earlier, {\textquoteleft}mega events{\textquoteright} like the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Roche 2000) which have traditionally been seen as key signifiers of London{\textquoteright}s modern urban development and, increasingly, as part of its heritage (see Johansen 1996). Fundamentally, it seeks to ask how far developments like UCL East are relying on particularised or limited conceptualisations of their host site and city{\textquoteright}s pasts – both reified as {\textquoteleft}heritage{\textquoteright} or otherwise – within this future-oriented vision.",

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N2 - This chapter explores how the development of UCL East and the other emerging cultural institutions of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (Stratford, London) have been shaped by the area’s historical development and the mega event that precipitated their emergence – the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It locates this inquiry within a longer-term historical perspective on the relationship between large-scale educational initiatives that emerged as a form of ‘legacy’ from other, earlier, ‘mega events’ like the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Roche 2000) which have traditionally been seen as key signifiers of London’s modern urban development and, increasingly, as part of its heritage (see Johansen 1996). Fundamentally, it seeks to ask how far developments like UCL East are relying on particularised or limited conceptualisations of their host site and city’s pasts – both reified as ‘heritage’ or otherwise – within this future-oriented vision.

AB - This chapter explores how the development of UCL East and the other emerging cultural institutions of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (Stratford, London) have been shaped by the area’s historical development and the mega event that precipitated their emergence – the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It locates this inquiry within a longer-term historical perspective on the relationship between large-scale educational initiatives that emerged as a form of ‘legacy’ from other, earlier, ‘mega events’ like the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Roche 2000) which have traditionally been seen as key signifiers of London’s modern urban development and, increasingly, as part of its heritage (see Johansen 1996). Fundamentally, it seeks to ask how far developments like UCL East are relying on particularised or limited conceptualisations of their host site and city’s pasts – both reified as ‘heritage’ or otherwise – within this future-oriented vision.

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KW - UCL East

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KW - London 2012 Olympics

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KW - East Bank

KW - South Bank Exhibition

KW - culture-led regeneration

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BT - Co-curating the City

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A2 - Benesch, Henric

A2 - Sully, Dean

A2 - Holmberg, Ingrid Martins

PB - UCL Press

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ER -

London’s mega event heritage and the development of UCL East

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

The archaeology and heritage of London's mega events

A Contemporary Archaeology of London’s Mega Events: From the Great Exhibition to London 2012

Recurring dreams: Mega events and traces of past futures

Legacy, what legacy? Five years on the London Olympic park battle still rages

Legacy or Heritage? Reconsidering the Olympic inheritance

CONTEMPORARY ARCHAEOLOGY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK

Groundbreakers launch event

Cite this

London’s mega event heritage and the development of UCL East

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

The archaeology and heritage of London's mega events

Research output

A Contemporary Archaeology of London’s Mega Events: From the Great Exhibition to London 2012

Recurring dreams: Mega events and traces of past futures

Press/Media

Legacy, what legacy? Five years on the London Olympic park battle still rages

Activities

Legacy or Heritage? Reconsidering the Olympic inheritance

CONTEMPORARY ARCHAEOLOGY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK

Groundbreakers launch event

Cite this