Mark Shaw

Brick Lane Inquiry — Day Three (Morning): Landmarks and Blind Spots

Forshaw’s testimony turned planning jargon back into moral language. “The battle,” he said, “isn’t over style — it’s over stewardship.”

By J. W. Carradine, Mark Shaw · Oct 16, 2025

The Great Housing Betrayal Already Happened in Brick Lane

When Aditya Chakrabortty exposed how Labour’s leaked housing memo judged success by whether “developers welcome the package strongly on the day,

By J. W. Carradine, Mark Shaw · Oct 16, 2025

Brick Lane Public Inquiry — Day Two (Afternoon): Heritage as Commodity

By J. W. Carradine, Mark Shaw · Oct 16, 2025

Brick Lane

Brick Lane Inquiry — Day Two: The Grammar of Power

When the morning session ended, Burrell’s restraint had become its own statement. The KC’s authority was procedural; the architect’s authority was experiential. One argued for deliverability, the other for belonging

By J. W. Carradine, Mark Shaw · Oct 15, 2025

Brick Lane

John Burrell’s Alternative Vision for Brick Lane: Regeneration Without Erasure

“To conserve,” Burrell wrote, “is to sustain the relationships that make a place thrive.”

By Mark Shaw · Oct 15, 2025

Brick Lane

Brick Lane Public Inquiry — Day One Summary

The architects’ presentations — however elegant — cannot conceal the structural truth: this is not heritage-led regeneration; it is displacement by design.

By Mark Shaw · Oct 14, 2025

People

Architects for Social Housing: Repair, Not Erasure

If demolition is the architecture of finance, ASH’s work is the architecture of resistance.

By Mark Shaw · Oct 7, 2025

Campaigns

Saving Station Street: Who Benefits When Britain Erases Its Own Memory?

Station Street contains all the ingredients of sustainable urban life: density, walkability, mixed use, and heritage that anchors community identity. What it needs is maintenance, not obliteration.

By Mark Shaw · Oct 4, 2025