Information Architecture: The New Great Stink

Information architecture and London’s sewer system have more in common than you might think.

In 2018, BBC Two aired The Five Billion Pound Super Sewer, a compelling 3-part documentary series tracing the first stages of the largest upgrade to London’s sprawling sewage system for over 150 years.

Amounting to the biggest engineering challenge in decades, the 90-metre-deep super sewer will hopefully solve the alarming problem presented by our city’s current sewage system. Built after The Great Stink of 1858 by Joseph Bazalgette and a team of the world’s best architects and engineers, the scheme was an incredible feat of engineering for its time, but it was originally designed when the population was a mere 2 million. The Victorian sewers are now used by substantially more inhabitants.

According to the latest official figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), London’s population currently rests at 8.8 million, representing an increase of 600,000 since the last Census in 2011. The ONS state that Greater London is the fastest-growing region in the UK, predicting an additional increase of over 700,000 by 2026.

This rapidly swelling population pushes the existing sewer system to its fragile limits, requiring continuous…