in relief. Sometimes there is no name, hidden by layers of posters and graffiti, or simply absent… one appears to be so new that it has not yet received its name). Sometimes there is no door, just a sign fixed to the building façade or perimeter fence, near a gate or other entrance. The signs are however clearly situated in the public realm. They are standardised (more or less) and identifiable – the publicly visible face of a largely invisible web of electrical infrastructure. Interestingly, in Paris itself, rather than the inner suburbs where I live, the names are barely names at all, just addresses – substations are identified by their street name and number. The suburban
system of names that I have tuned into is so much more interesting. The names tell stories. They provide clues, sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure, about the places in which they are situated. They shift between the prosaic and the dreamy and the puzzling. This most essential infrastructure network, underpinning our entire way of life, plays host to an evocative web of poetry. p
Ruth Oldham teaches, designs, writes, and translates, within and around the field of architecture. She is from Kent, in the UK, but now lives in Montreuil in the eastern suburbs of Paris. @_rutholdham_
all images Ruth Oldham
HACHIS
ASTRAKHAN
PHALENE
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on site review 41 :: infrastructure
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