The Historic Towns Trust

Our Southwark Street studios features a shopfront. Most of the year, it’s where we display an ever-changing display of our models. We periodically transform the window into something topical, or seasonal, to engage with the street. We enjoy the dialogue this has with our neighbours.

It was in this spirit that the practice presented a display of maps curated and provided by The Historic Towns Trust. The Trust was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War to inspire future generations to ‘understand, appreciate and preserve their urban heritage.’ Mapping is an important part of the Trust’s work, and the Trust’s maps are known for their analytical sophistication and graphic clarity.

A series of maps were displayed along Southwark Street allowing visitors outside, and those of us inside, to simultaneously read these rich diagrams. Each presented at the same scale, each map illustrated a particular historic town or city. In the process, they revealed fascinating stories and narratives about how each place developed. A dozen towns and cities, from Ripon to Ipswich, were featured.