Uncanny Alley

May 31st, 2014, 9am

It was 15°C with clouds and visibility OK. The wind was light.

For most people psychogeography has only ever been a fanciful subject - somewhere between the mystical and the academic. Only Hugo Peabody - disgraced scion of the landowning trust - ever tried to turn it into a practical science.

One of his first experiments was here in Soho and it was, perhaps, his most successful. The angles, the position, the arrangement of light and materials have all been designed to increase the incidence of deja vu amongst those walking through. A series of experiments in the 1950s demonstrated that a statistically significant effect did, in fact, occur.

The psychogeographic properties of the alley have not been assiduously preserved since Peabody’s death in the seventies (the local council were not persuaded of the Return On Investment offered by an increased propensity to deja vu) but locals will tell you the effects remain. Have a walk down and see what you think. Have a walk down and see what you think.


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Russell Davies

As disappointed as you are

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