I continue visiting the 7 Sisters Market, a home to one of London’s two main Latin American communities for over twenty years. The Ward’s corner is a fascinating spectacle dominated by voices, scents and graphic imagery from Columbia, Brazil, Ecuador and elsewhere. The market’s visitor, entirely consumed by the spectacle, easily forgets their true location.
This is one of the most unique parts of the city, in comparison to Covent Garden, Oxford Street or Shoreditch that have long been taken over by the ever-changing trends within revolving urban culture whilst the identity of such places identity has become diluted by continuous market-driven transition.
The market in 7 sisters, especially active on Fridays and Saturdays, have recently become under thread of being redeveloped into luxury apartments. An opposing force to such change has inevitably sprung up from within the market, led by the community’s leading figures and two prospective architects from Cambridge university – Ben and David, who have acquired interest and help from architects and urban researchers.
The designers have been giving the market an extraordinary level of full-time voluntary commitment. However, given the considerable profit of the market, there is a scope for the community to provide its architects with a higher level of material subsidy, in addition to their moral support and public re-posting of the project’s ambitions.
no.balsa 