onionbagblog

“The Crystal is a place where anyone can come to explore the future of our cities.”

The Crystal is also an exercise in how a multi-national corporation can attempt to ease its social conscience by setting up a socially sustainable hub [URGH] to try and stimulate a conversation all about caring capitalism.

NEVER trust a hippy.

And so having dangled off the Dangleway around the edges of the Royal Docks, my attention turned to the rather bland glass house structure that has recently appeared as part of the Enterprise District in the London Borough of Newham.

The view from 90 metres up above the water on the Dangleway didn’t give much away - a jagged structure that didn’t look very inviting as the gondola started the descent into the Royal Docks. The view from the ground level didn’t offer up any more enthusiasm.

The Crystal has landed in South East London as an attempt by Siemens to try and explain - and ease - some of the social issues that are thrown up through corporate globalisation. It’s a brave effort in trying to engage [URGH] the conversation, rather than simply go about the business of exploitation with yet further business.

But you have to ask the question: why?

What is there to be gained by trying to convince local folk that you are a multi-national that has a slightly fluffy edge around your approach to global trade? If the sustainable city question mattered so much, why not just change the focus and structure of the organisation to genuinely help to eradicate world poverty?

But that’s not the point of The Crystal. Perhaps the best endorsement is that the cupcakes in the reasonably priced mezzanine cafe looked half-decent.

NEVER trust a cupcake lover, etc.

What exists inside The Crystal is a haphazard approach to pointing out the destruction that capitalism is capable of creating. It’s half an hour spent learning how global trade doesn’t always lead to a better life for everyone.

It’s all about the economy, Stooopid.

And so half an hour to immerse yourself in a false layer of social conscience, or half a week to read Das Kapital? At least yer man Mr M had some solutions to the ills of capitalism.

“How do you build a sustainable city?”

…is the first questioned asked upon entry. Building a glass building in the Royal Docks that has all the social value of a frozen pack of peas certainly can’t help.

Entry is FREE however.

It’s the future, I tell you.

Costing £30m to build, The Crystal also serves as a workspace for Siemens in South East London. But is sustainability [URGH, URGH] ever built upon commercial enterprise?

It’s all about the PEOPLE, isn’t it?

What follows as you wander around The Crystal is a curious hybrid of Clockwork Orange meets New Labour. Dystopian scenarios are played out in front of you with moral panics about the dangers ahead when all moral value is evaporated from a progressive society.

And that’s just the New Labour angle, Comrades.

An intimacy with the brand is encouraged to help you understand how global warming started. You don’t need a degree in Chicken and Egg Economics to understand that the solutions being offered come from the exact same economic model that created the mess.

Environment, Economy and Quality of Life are the three main themes. There is no mention of the means or mode of production, let alone the infrastructure or superstructure.

But yeah - NICE cupcakes.

The space is zone heavy, full of meaningless messages and interactive exhibits with little cohesion. You are invited to enter the Forces of Change Theatre. No indication as to what type of social change Siemens is supporting here.

“Why urbanisation matters”

…is another message.

I was rather hoping that the question posed was: why the mighty @urban75 matters.

But nope.

It all got a little multi-media saturated with endless interactive buttons to press and screens to flicker on and off at your every whim. Here’s hoping that Siemens have taken care of the sustainable energy here.

For an exercise in attempting to stimulate conversations and dialogue, The Crystal simply talks at you. This is a one-way process with no indication that the corporate beast is actually listening.

Ideas and solutions require collaboration. Sitting in a teepee outdoors and having a conversation about social and economic models, may by a better way forward.

But NEVER trust a hippy, etc.

“Welcome to the Keep Moving Zone”

…read another sign.

I did. Nothing to see here.

The lip service to cycling - perhaps the only genuine sustainable energy on show - was but the corporate livery of a single Boris Bike. Is corporate sponsorship really the best answer you’ve got for sustainability?

The Crystal has all the energy of a car showroom for corporate consumption. The lights are on, but the ideas have been left at home.

I’m halfway through Das Kapital, Comrades.