Very fascinating news piece about the listing of Browse & Darby. Cork Street has been so knocked about of late. I sense that Native Land who developed the east side of the street have made strenuous efforts to attract international galleries, but it doesn’t feel as if it has worked: the ecology has changed; it’s a bit too uniform; the rents are probably too high.
In a discussion at Sketch on Thursday, it was clear that the character of Mayfair is dependent on the layering of history – buildings like Browse & Darby, once a brokers, then a silk importers, becoming a gallery in the 1920s. The texture of these buildings is obliterated by redevelopment, so it’s good this has been recognised.
https://mailchi.mp/savebritainsheritage.org/campaignscurrent-1647216?s=09
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 