"Cities are about juxtaposition," says British architect Richard Rogers.
Hyde Park is criticised, usually by people who've never lived there, as a scuzzy area. In 1995, about 150 "youths" armed with petrol bombs began riots in response to the house raids happening at the time, roasting innumerable cars and the Jolly Buffer pub to a crisp in the process. And in the mid-2000s - as if Chestnut Avenue being branded the most burgled street in Britain wasn't good enough - police sounded out a suspected "bomb factory" on nearby Alexandra Grove following the 7/7 attacks by blitzing it with their own explosives.
"We heard recently that it became a bingo hall, which was news to us 'cause we thought it had never closed. Some old guy came and said: 'I remember when this place shut down and became a bingo hall for two years and I used to come every weekend.' He showed us pictures. He wasn't crazy or mad - he was telling the truth. He was in a photo of the day the elephant was here."
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