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Banham Barker Hall Price PDF
Banham Barker Hall Price PDF
Banham Barker Hall Price PDF
N ON - P L A N
EDITED BY JO N A T H A N HUGHES & SIMON SADLER
E S S A Y S ON F R E E D O M P A R T I C I P A T I O N A N D CHANGE
: (N M O D E R N A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D U R B A N I S M
..Vm ;
' ’/OXFORD AUCKLAND BOSTON JOHANNESBURG MELBOURNE NEW D E L H I
o p p o s i t e p a g e and f o l l o w i n g p a g e s f i g u r e s 1 . 2 - 1 , 1 0 NEW SOCIETY 20. M ARCH 1969
N O N - P L A N : AN E X P E R IM E N T IN FREEDO M , NEU SOCIETY, NO. 3 3 8 ,
NON-PLAN:
2 0 MARCH 1 9 6 9 , P P . 4 3 5 -4 4 3
AN EXPERIMENT IN FREEDOM
the forecourc is almost impossible. Only in the motorway service areas (themselves: Town-and-country planning has today become an unquestioned shibboleth.
Yet few of its procedures or value judgments have any sound basis, except delay.
damply over-planned) is there anything like this; and here the unfortunately not unique: Why not have the courage, where practical, to let people shape their own environment?
combination of incompetence and non-spontaneity kills the whole thing. ;• “A dispute has arisen about a booklet, Dorset Build W elw yn G arden C ity and Hampstead Garden Reyner Banham
ing In Rural Areas, just issued by D orset C ounty Suburb were therefore built— and then duly mocked
Council, and aspiring to be a guide to good design fo r d u ll dbctrinairism . T h e layout made public
Paul Barker
transport alm ost impossible; the tin and the frozen Peter Hall
And yet theres no doubt that the popular arts o f our time (i.e. those on which every-, A r c W i « u i * a ^ pack rapidly outdated the vegetable patch. But then Cedric Price
one thinks he has a valid opinion) are car design and advertising; and these are doubly.; ample,s, lt]at 11 lllustrales and recommends as models the spread o f car ownership outdated the mockery:
those roads lived to find a justification; the space
“ , . 0 . b . '»••• are utterly commonplace, the sort o f house to be
symbolized by such characteristic forecourt figures as the Esso tiger or the BP little man.». found in almost any speculative builder's suburban around the house could absorb a garage without
r-t , I , r\ •, r n t i* «late. T h is view is shared by the W ilts and Dorset too much trouble; and lhe garden (as, even, in many
The great recent soap-opera rums have been Jacques Demys Les Parap lutes ae^ Society o f Architects, which, through its president. inner-London conversions o f G eorgian houses)
Cherbourg (hero: a filling station owner) and Claude Lelouch’s Un Homme et Une M r- Pet" Wake?ieldi . has Mked for ,he publication
lo he w ithdraw n "— The Times, Decem ber 1968.
became an unexceptionable outdoor room, and
meeting space fo r children, away from the lethal
Femme (hero: a racing car driver). If you drive down the French Rhone valley motoi- Th is news item illustraies the kind o f tangle we pressed steel and rubber hurtling around the streets.
have got ourselves into. Somehow, everything must N o w it’s nice that a plan should turn ou t to have
way - not so planned as ours - one of the most memorable sights is a Total petrol be watched: nothing must be allow ed simply to “ hap. reasons fo r succeeding w hich the planner himself
pen." N o house can be allow ed to be comm onplace did not foresee. A t every stage in the history o f
station, writing the letters T-O-T-A-L huge across the valley, with a flutter of flags, in the way that things just are comm onplace: each planning, we have cause to be grateful for these
underneath. Stay in Moscow, and you end up yearning to see un Esso sign. u project must be weighed, and planned, and approved,
and only then built, and only after that discovered
quirks of lime. It’s do u btfu l if John Nash saw how
well his Regent's Park w ould serve as an ajty but
j to be com m onplace after all. Somehow, somewhere, fairly democratic pause on the north edge o f inner
.someone was using the w rong year's model. Lo n d on — just right fo r football and swings and non-
Ask yourself why it is that almost the only time you ever see flags on any unofficial occa-} . Once, Rasmussen, in London: the Unique City, copulating pandas and Sunday-promenading Central
.(first published 1934), thought it worth printing a Europeans; inhabited not by Regency aristos but
sion - i.e. not at an ordained festival or other jamboree and not on a public building picture o f the entirely comm onplace domestic arch i by film people, lumps o f Lo n d on U niversity and
is on filling stations or else on the rear windows of cars. tecture built along Parkw ay, Cam den T o w n , in the h m government, the A m erican ambassador and high-
early 19th century. It was architecture that worked; class tarts. A n d d id Scott foresee how his St Pancras
it provided what the inhabitants wanted from it. Hotel, superbly planned to fit in with departing trains
Now there'd be trouble if you tried to knock it down and arriving hotse-carringes, w ould survive being a
Now the purpose of this is not to write a kind of Elegy in a Country Filling Station . (though the L o n d o n m otorway box w ill skirt it much-mocked office block so successfully that it can
dose). But at least the preservationists didn't get in now be argued for as a natural home for a sports
The purpose is to ask: why don’t we dare trust the choices that would evolve if we let^ at ground level, as they do today, in order to try centre o r a transport museum o r B irkbeck College?
rin d make sure — before the event— that something
them? It’s permissible to ask - after the dreariness o f much public re-building and after}, N o r is it just the cities and towns that have
|;|jtat w ill eventually be worth preserving is built. benefited, H o w many further-education departments
the Ronan Point disaster“ - what exactly should we sacrifice to fashion? | Ip.The whole concept o f planning (the town-nnd- can be duly grateful for m inor G eorgian country
•country kind at least) has gone cockeyed. W hat we houses, o r their V ictorian im itators— so apt for giving
Ijtave today represents n whole cum ulation o f good courses in? H o w many angling clubs can thank the
: intentions. A n d what those good intentions are worth,
Here we take a look at three zones where one might make the experiment of succumb :•we have almost no way o f knowing. T o say it has
canal-builders fdr where they spend their peaceful
Sundays? H o w many Highlands-addicted tourists,
ing to the pressures and seeing where it led: the East Midlands, ‘Lawrence country’; the> ;.b,een with us f o r so long, physical planning has been even, depend fo r the solitude they love on those
. . r_ II > 1 I r- I ,• - remarkably unmonitored: ditto architecture itself. A s harsh men w ho preferred the glens clear o f people
area around Nuthampstead, Constable country; and the oolent, Montagu country.u Melvin W ebber has pointed out: planning is the and w ho planned them out o f the H ighlands and
into Canada or Australia?
There are, obviously, other candidates. Anyone can fill in his own sacred cows or beteiy. k iiJ ^ / s d e n c e w h i ^ Y e t it’s hard to see where, in this, the credit can
no ires. (Imagine, for example, dividing the Lake District so that Coniston andj, go to the planner. T h a t last example— w hich pushes
the concept o f planning altogether too far— is justified
Windermere could satisfy all those M6 hordes by becoming a Non-Plan zone: it might' 11 was meant t0 d°-and whether, if it does something as rubbing in the coerciveness o f it. M o s t planning
. . I w , I 1 • \ -r-1 L- • l l L different thls 15 fo r lhe better o r fo r the worse, is aristocratic or oligarchic in method even
help protect the Wastwaters that are worth preserving). I he main thing is that thefe J'.The result is that planning tends to lurch from today— revealing in this its historical origins. T h e
experiment should be tried - and tried quickly. Even the first waves of inform a tion p °n^ ^ Acceptance". One good“ecem
would be valuable; if the experiment ran for five years, ten years, twenty years, m oreff^,mple. *a? th.e f « h io n . - f o r high
> r , i i ,.o ~ i t t RT*flats— wh,ch been dying fo r some time before
and more o f use would emerge. Legally, It would not be too difficult to set up. l l only» Ronan Point give it a tombstone. T h is fashion had
, . I f - ' r inaugurated with bizarre talk o f creating
requires the w i l l to do it - and the desire to knoiu, instead of impose. « 'vertical streets w hich would somehow, it was
t implied, recreate the togetherness o f Bethnal Green
. .¡•/.w. Road on Saturday m orning-in (presumably) the lift
O f course, any experiment of this sort will have a tendency to endure. The megaliths^ Jh4nnéihin thV«ructure*y equiValent communic!llion
are still with us; so is Paddington station; so is Harlow New Town. Non-Plan woulck vNo; that one can be too sw iftly mocking, w e
W jlttay .yet. find that for some future-tw ist o f ' social
leave an aftermath at least as interesting as these. But what counts here, for once, is now |4^it:i(eclinó|ogipai development, tall flats are just the
jg^lMpg Th is happened with, another fashion— that fo r f "
•v*®»tòe/garden city, os ¡promulgated by'.Patrick Geddès, '¡j':
||&BI>(ep(tte|; H ow ard and R aym ond U n w lm I t’s worth:
^ M y fm e m b in n g that.the ¡garden in this theory was there £•,
:à ® fsp tcjfisa lly to grow fo o d in : the acreage was carefully «-
Affiftneatured out with this fodder ratio in m in d.-Th e t i.
2 6 T h e new R onan Point cower block o f council liar, in Ease London, buile byindustrialized methods,collapsed on 16 Mamlfatiouses; in (soy) W elw yn G arden C ity o r Hampstead 1
1968.lc was che beginning o f die end, in Britain, fortower blocks as social housing. Later, Icommissioned Nicholas Taylor,to'Ei}-,Carden. Suburb were, also scattered -thinly .because J:
w rite The Village in the City (in Paul Barker (general edicor),'Towards a N e w Society' scries, London: Tem ple Smith, 1973) lit y ' °f Wjdth o f spacejulloued (for reasons o f health) -Sr
pioneer defence o f Britain's suburban streets against planning megalomania. gjk to th^ (oop and iw e gp q f rp^ds. q:
NEW SOCIETY 20 MARCH 1969
NEW SOCIETY 20 MARON 1M»¡
Uristic, foreco u rt figures as the Esso tiger or the
tnight make the experiment o f succumbing to the Won-PIgn
pressures, and'seemg-wherb it led; the east midlands,
sf. little man. T h e great recent sdap.-opera flints have
been Jacques Dem y’s Lei Porapluiesde' C h erb o u rg
“ Law rence coun try"; the ar.ea round Northamp-
stead, "C onstable country"; and the Solent, "M on tagu
(hero; a filling-station owner).and O tiu d e L e lo u c h ’s
country,” T h e re are, obviously, other candidates.
U n H o t r t m i e t U n e Femme (hero; a racin g-car
A n y o n e can fill in his ow n sacred cows o r bites
' driver). ‘I f you drive down the French Rhone valley
motorway— not so planned as ours— one o f the most
noircs. (Imagine, 'for example, dividing the Lake
D istrict so that C on is io n and W inderm ere could
(nemorabie sights is a To ta l petrol station, writing
satisfy a ll those M6-borne hordes by becoming a
¡the letters t - o - t - a - l huge across the valley, with a
N o n -P la n zone: it ruight help protect the Wastwaters
flutter o f flags underneath. Stay in M oscow , and you
that are worth preserving.) T h e main thing is that
end u p yearning to see a Esso sign.
the experiment should be tried— and tried quickly.
- A sk yourself why it is that almost the only time
Even the first waves o f info rm atio n w ould be valu
you ever see flags on any unofficial occasion— ie,
able; if the experiments ran for five years, ten years,
not at an ordained festival or other jamboree, and
twenty years, more and more o f use would emerge.
not on a p u b lic building— is oq -filling-stations or
L e g ally it w ou ld not be too difficult to get up. ft
else, on the rear windows o f cars. o n ly requires the w ill to do i'— and the desire to
- N o w the purpose o f this is not to w rite a kind
know instead o f impose.
of Elegy in a C ou ntry Filling-Station. T h e purpose
O f course, any experiment o f this sort w ill have
is to aslts-.-why d o n ’t we dare trust the choices that
a tendency tc endure. T h e megaliths are still with
woujdt'-evolve if we let therp'l It’s permissible to
.us; so is Versailles; so is Paddington station; so is
ask— after’ the dreariness o f much pub lic rebuilding,
H a rlo w N e w To w n , N on -Plan would leave an af
and after the Ronan Point disaster— what exactly
termath a t'le ast as interesting as these.’ But what
should we sacrifice to fashion?
ones where counts here, fo r once, is now.
where one •
LAWRENCE COUNTRY
Here we lake a look at three Zones one
m ost rigorously planned cities— like Haussman’s and much- the same, in terms o f durable successes or
N a p o le o n i l l ’s Paris bave, nearly always been the disastrous failures, the overall pattern w ould be sure
least dem ocratic. to be different: the look- of the experiment would o f the,century a conurbation was what they might
The east midlands, are perfect fo r N on-Plan . Stretch
T h e w a y that Haussman •rebuilt Paris gladdens be .sure to differ from w bat we have now. have. It was unnecessarily afraid. T h e west midlands
ing from Nottingham and D erby northwards through
the tourist; it was not su ch 'a help, though, fo r the T h is is what we’re-now proposing: a precise and conurbation around Birmingham , w hich was the ex
Mansfield up to Chesterfield, the Nottingham -Derby
p o o r through whose homes the demolition gangs went carefully observed experiment in non-planning. It’s am ple that frightened them, w as-a product o f the
industriàl zone has a population o f close on 1j
to create those avenues and squares. Similarly,- the hardly an experiment one could carry out over the public transport era— first the tram, then the bus
million. By the year 2000, it is expected to have
urban renewal programmes o f the Am erican cities entire country. Some knots— like Lo n d o n — are, by bound the towns together. T h e three quarters of
2} m illio n ; the same as the west midlands con
gladdened the real estate men; they did not help now, far too G ordian for that. N o r are we suggesting a m illio n extra people expected, in the east midland
urbation today. Just to the north o f this zone (and,
the N egroes and poor whites who were uprooted (here) that other than physical planning should be industrial zone in the next 30 years w ill mostly have
by an adm inistrative accident, in another planning
w ith little to compensate them. In Britain, public shelved. cars, and their tastes in housing w ill be quite different
region), ¡s' Greater Sheffield with over three quarters
housing program m es gladden the housing committees T h e right approach is to take the plunge into from those that shaped the B iack Country.
and the respectable w orking class; they don't help heterogeneity: to seize on a few appropriate of a m illion more people. A s A m erican experience shows, such people w ill
T h is is an anomaly in England: a big, fast-growing
the poorest, the must fissile o r the most drifting zones o f the country, w hich are subject to a be more m obile than previous generations. T h e y w ill
.characteristic range o f pressures, and use them as industrial area with à lot o f people on the ground
fam ilies. comm ute farther each day, some o f them much
but with no Birmingham -type conurbation. T h e east
T h e p o in t is to realise bow little planning and launchpads fo r N on-Plan. A t the least, one would farther. Industrial decentralisation w ill mean that
midlands regional economic planning council, in Its
the accom panying architecture have changed. The find out what people want; at the most, one might m any o f them w ill be w orking outside the cities
report back in 1966, was frightened that by the end
w h ole e th o s .is doctrinaire; and i f something good discover the hidden style o f mid-20th century Britain.
emerges, it remains a bit o f a bonus. N o t to be It's “ hidden’’ for the same reason that caused any
expected-but nice if you can get it— like totalling good social democrat, to shudder at the anarchic sug
e nough G reen Shield stamps to get a M in i. A t the gestion o f . the previous paragraph. T o w n planning
m om ent, most planners'- in Britain are on a. tautness is always in thrall to some outmoded rule-of-thumb;
j a g ; ' C am den's neatly -interlocked squares; or as a profession, in fact, planners tend to read the
S outhw ark's bigh-density juggernauts, o r Cum ber Telegraph and the Express, rather than the Guardian
nauld's and the ' Elephant’s sculptural shopping or The Times. Ta k e a specific example: the filling
centres; station.
S om e o f these loo k pleasant enough now— and "W atch the little filling-station,’'' Fran k Llo y d
some d o n ’t. But the fact is that, so far as one can W right said. "It is the agent o f decentralisation."
judge, taut arrangements last much better when L ik e all focuses o f transport, the filling-station'could
plenty o f m oney can be spent on their upkeep (O x be a notable cause o f change. Self-service automats,
bridge colleges, Chelsea squares) than when it isn't dispensing fo o d ' and other goods, could spring up
(remember a il .those Improved industrial Dwellings around the forecourt; maybe small post offices, loo;
put u p in the late 19th century by M r Peabody and telephone kiosks; hoiiday-gear shops; eateries (no/
others? restaurants); all this quite apart from the standard
S o It’s at least plausible that some other doctrine b p V isco static Iice cream /m ap and guidebook shop.
than the current, one w ould be right fo r everyday (Thus, at Cum bernauld New To w n, it's already clear
bousing and building. It w ould be pleasant if “do c that only the most repressive controls can stop the
trine" were precisely what it wasn't. two conveniently sited filling stations from replacing
'B u t how are we to know? Planning is being sub the inconveniently centred town centre as shopping
jected to increasing scepticism. Th e T o w n and C ou n focus.)
try Plan n in g A ct, .1968, tidies up some o f the abuses W e ll, you can watch as long as you tike in Britain,
(especially some o f those w hich caused delay in gran but you w ill see small sign o f this happening. I t’s
ting permissions); and the Skefiington committee is hard enough to get planning permission to put up
c urrently trying to decide how people migbt be given a filling station in the first' place. (There's still a
m ore say ("participation,” in the jargon) in planning. feeling— dating probably from the hoo-ha which
T h e N e w C ity plan for M ilto n Keynes tries to shy broke out when the Set Britain Free Tories decided
aw ay com pletely from planning. A t universities, to replace pbol petrol; in the 1950s by commercial
research is being done. T h e one thing that is not brands— that it's' verf.faay to have "too m any” filling
being done is the harshest test, the most valuable stations.) T o have!-anything- else on the forecourt
experiment, o f all. W hat w ould happen i f there were is almost impossible! O nly in-the m otorway.service
n o plan? W h a t w o u ld people "prefer to do, If their areas (themselves' damply ¡overplanned}ifs there
cb d ice .w e re 'u n tra m m e lle d ?. Woujd. inalters be any a->'*‘-ing like this; and here the unfottuh itely not
better, o / . any worse, o r much the same7 (M ight unique combination o f incompetence and non-tspon-
p lanning turn out to be rather like Eysenck's view lane.iy kills me wnale thing. motorways & motorway
of- psychoanalysis: " an activity, .which, insofar at .And- yet there’s no doubt that the popular arts g. suipcitiei .................... standard wads,
itv.g^.-'.aediti'.gata it fo r benefits that wp.uld.-bappen of our-’, time- (to, those that everyone thipks fie has dew villages , * - 2 - , fisting
.ia fly ^ a i^ rtin d iv c a n <cure- tje! motorway fun Canties - 1 > ' *== f u W ^
a .v a lid 'o p in io n ''b n ) are car,,design and advetJising;
o àd :plan':thém*élv<3 ?),: ButreythtuJtóajrteù àeìdte'd uc -and-these are 'doubJy- eym bolised-by spch -charac-
4U NEW SOCIETY SO M ARCH 1WS NO T 80C W T V SO MARCH 19«S
N o n - P la ii to o ‘ 086 urban tccnonusu', jargon, .they w ill the appropriate departm ent thinks necessary. (But ,
" t r a d e o H " amenity! against- accessibility. .fro r . m a n y only'After an examination o f actual needs.) T h e pro
the resuit w ill be life in far-flung suburbs; close to blem is the large regional o r national park areas; .
open countryside.. The Peak park, west o f the zone, is one case; the
in tne east m id la n d s this is ail the more likely, Dukeries, form ing a series o f potential country parks ’
because the countryside is worth, having, and because to the east, are another.
it is relatively more accessible than eisewnere. La n d for these parks would simply be bought in
Law re nce in Lady Cnatterley's Lover describes what tbe market by a state Countryside Com m ission
in d ustrialism nao done to the countryside he knew, because the social benefits from recreation w ould ;
n orth west o f N om n g nam . B ut really, the. im pact o f outweigh those from development. T h e commission .
the towns is suit rem arkably small in the wnole o f w ould then recoup its expenditure (like a nationalised
this countryside. Everywhere, there are still patches industry) by charging fo r entry to the country parks,
o i uie oid sym oiosi* ut m ining and tae rural economy, with the aim o f breaking even, “ taking one year
w nich Law re n ce him self describes poignantly in (he with another." A m erican experience shows this can
opening pages o l ¡tons and Lovers. work. It may be necessary to buy now, while the
T h e biggest dinerence in tact has come in the expected benefits o nly justify the purchase some time
last year o r two. N o w , the M l to lls on only tw o is the future. T h is may justify a state subsidy, but
miles fro m the village o f Eastwood, where Law rence it does not justify an arbitrary refusal to consider
grew up. It link s northwards not only w iln Leeds the alternative uses to w hich this land m ight possibly
but also w ith tne G re at N o rth R oad at Doncaster, be put.
thus form in g the new mam north-south route down N on-Plan, applied to this area, w ould keep all
the eastern side o f the Pennine*. F ro m Nottingham the options open. N o land-use pattern co u ld be
to Snettield by tbe m otorway is now half an nour's regarded as sacrosanct.
drive. F ro m N o ttingnam to Leicester, also h alf an W h a t w ould result? Probab ly - a pattern w hich
hour. F ro m N ottingham through to the outskirts o f intensified the present one, but w ithout (he "plan
Lo n d o n , tw o hours, l'he transform ation in space rela nin g" rigm arole. Th e fo rc e s o f dispersion, o f mobility,
tionships is as great as anywhere in England; and, are already strong. But there w ould be certain
as is already occurring on the M i between St A lbans differences. Developm ent w ould be more scattered
and N ortham pton, it w ill be accompanied, after a and less geometrically tidy than our present planners
tim e lag, by a massive sh ift in commuting. In the wpuld like. It w ould be lowidensity— the apotheosis
w hole b fh m ile tract between Leicester and Sheffield; ijfo x u rb ia . There would be more out-of-town shop
m any people w ill find that,they .can live where they ping centres and drive-in cinemas, and Non-Plan
lik e. T h e re w ill be colossal ptessure fo r scattered, w ou ld let’ them zoom to considerable size by the end ;
often small-scale grow th in hundreds o f villages and o f the. century. W ith the aesthetic brakes off, strip
sm all towns. N o n -P la n would perm it this. development w ould spread along the main roads on
T h e biggest practical problem is preserving open the Am erican model. M u c h o f this w ill serve the
space. There is really n o difficulty about the ordinary needs o f a m obile society: eating places, drinking'
lo c a l open spaces; they can be bought in the market, places, petrol stations, supermarkets. It w ould not
o r fro m the land, comm ission, in •such amounts as look like a planner's dream, but it w ould work. ^
» ~»i — » ...... ............
CONSTABLE COUNTRY
W alden,-'and the W a re /H e rtfo rd bijou mihi-con-
(ionatej trauic toad on the *11, w nich probably ought S?
urbation. A n d then add to this (he effect o f an airport,
lo have been let rip to develop as a thick local r
w ith a ll the attraction that scheduled flights would
’‘midway", rather than being regarded, as at present, 8
have fo r factory owners— consequently for
N utham pstead? O n ly 38 miles fro m Lo n don— this, But this is largely illusory; most o f the trees are as an inefficient trunk route to rem oler parts o f E ast ?
speculative house builders. (One ought to remember,
in the belts o f a few very handsome parks that more Anglia. Th e building o f the M l ) m otorway (which 3
am ong the R o s k ill comm ission's four short-list sites too, that there’s an airp o rt at Stansted already— and,
ifn is fo r a th ird L o n d o n airport, has a not-had chance or less alternate with the half-timbered, or G eorgian, an airport at Nuthampstead w ould certainly hasten) •
will lift the through-traffic load from the old *11
though small, not a ll that tranquilo
o f being finally chosen. A s an alternative to Stansted villages along the *11, w hich hat almost the air o f T h e result o f these pressures would not, probably,
i t w ould change nothing. It doesn't matter w hich a parkway in places. T h e rest o f the area is fairly trunk, but w ill leave untouched the unacknowledged
lo o k like the prewar ribb o n development (of evil
side o f B ishop's Stortford tbe airport is located: badly off fo r roads o f this quality (with the possible local pressures lo w hich that road is increasingly
fame). T h e liftin g o f planning restrictions w ou ld not
the ultim ate disturbance to the Herts-Essex border exception o f the easi-west *120) but tends to exhibit subject In its role as a kind o f diffuse, linear
lit® c o un try w ill be the same. T h e actual aircra ft noise instead the kin d o f intricate grid o f m inor roads "downtown” for the whole area between Potter Street
and the Chesterfords. These pressures are revealed
sim ply connect a ll the *11 villages into a continuous
contours w ill be moved ten miles to the north west, that characterises the heartlands o f Hertfordshire.
but the a irp o rt project is n ot a cause, It is merely T h is close-grained and rather private terrain has not only by (he eruption o f m ore motels than their
one sym ptom o f w hat is trying to happen anyhow long been immune to the development pressures that national average distribution w ould suggest (two at
in this rare enclave o f a dying way o f life that have transformed many other areas in London's ex Epping, ooe at H arlow , others rumoured further
has, so far, escaped pressures that are norm al in urbanite belt. I f this area were freed o f direct or north) but even more clearly by the constant widen-
IfÉ ® the rest o f L o n d o n 's exurbanile belt. Proclaim ing im plicit planning prohibitions, what semi-submerged
tensions (which underlie, the present malaise o f
mgs, re-alignments and general tinkering with the
*11 lo cope with the local traffic crossing o r turning
a N o n -P la n zone .thereabouts w ould reveal w hat
pressures are currently being held in.check (but only insecurity here) could come to the surface and be on and off it.
studied? O f course, H a rlo w N e w T o w n is the m ajor cause
just) by present planning routines. Even m ore than
By comparison with the other three suburban o f hidden pressures on the w hole area. N o t in the
that, taking the planning lid o ff w ould produce a
situation traum atic enough-am oog the amenity lo b quadtaou o f London, the north-east quadrant is way in w bichl for instance, Stevenage has become
bies to m ake their real m otivations visible; to show almost an underdeveloped country. Because o f this,; a focus for junkie activity in the northern home,
16
NEW SOCIETY », M U C H - « 6 9 *EW 8 0 c ) E t y 2(j M A n cH 1#„
&ï. . the A l l . .
M o s t conceivable airports in the other three
to ou r present planning establishments, undermined ;
culturally by Stephen Spender's identification o f such ’
Residents : might bedome '.‘auto-nomads” at
Ì0. quadrants around L o n d o n would throw their main situations as the landscape o f hysteria and deafened •
holidays and weekends o r in fine weather, and still
remain within the Solent zone. T h e tourist pearls
W' traffic load on the radial arteries'leading to them
from the m etropolis. However, any airport near
by the barrage o f propaganda that thunders down
from the .anti-noise lobby. A n d to have this happen :
are remarkably evenly spread throughout the area;
nulti-funsiops. T h is w ould not be fo r the big setpiece
B is h o p ’s S tortford w ill shed quite a bit o f that load in what is virtually Constable country . . .
oliday— which, more and more, w ill be abroad (in
on to roads running east-west o r north-westwards— in A ctu ally, the close-textured, tree-grown, Constabli
>falta if the exchange regulations don't permit the
other words, m oving through the area at right angles type country is supposed, by bodies o f opinion lik
i'bsta del S o l o r Rim ini). It w ill be for small, io-
to the line o f flow apparently envisaged by London- the Architectural Review, to be ahle to absorb prac
irmittent holidays. V isito rs (as opposed to residents)
obsessed ‘'natio nal” thinking o f the sort responsible licalty anything that is not taller than a grow n tree, ,
kill increasingly see it the same w ay— though they
fo r the M i l . and the buildings which free enterprise w ou ld put
might stop off at the Buckler's H ard motel complex
' A fa ir am ount o f heavy comm ercial traffic already up in this planning-free situation w ould not be half ;
to refresh themselves en route from the continent
moves through Stortford on this axis which, some that height. O n an open site, one and two storey
to Stoke-on-Trent, Balham o r Oxford-with-Reading.
IS o r so miles further east, connects with Braintree buildings have overwhelming commercial at
The New Forest pony sales w ould become a heavily
and thè diffused zone o f m iscellaneous'light industries tractions— it is only ultra-high urban land values or :
plugged rodeo time.
in central Essex. I f local (and other) authorities can the activities o f determined architect-planners like .
Culturally, the prospect is bizarre. It was in
respond freely to a plan-free situation, then Bishop's W alter B or o r Sir Hugh Casson, that make m ulti- r
Hampshire, after ail, that the proposed New T o w n
S to rtfo rd could shortly have an improved east-west storey com m ercial development thinkable.
of H ook was killed : planning used in order to defeat
throughway, w hich it probably needs even more than So this small-scale, rather private landscape might .-
planning. N on-Plan w ould upheave all that. A n
to be disembarrassed o f the A ll. T h is could also barely reveal its new comm ercial buildings to the
enclave w ould be irrupted into and become one o f
be a step towards the creation o f a fan o f better eye. But this would be-very bad com m ercial practice, ,
the main play-and-live edges o f the Lo n d on region.
q u a lity roads carrying ah increasing amount o f con since an invisible building is no advertisement, and ;.
there w ould certainly have to be a compensatory j M obile homes ,m ight dot the N e w Forest and the
tainerised traffic to the rest o f England out o f the new
efflorescence of large and conspicuous advertising ' Isle o f W ight. Caravans to begin with; later more
freight facilities at T ilb u ry o r Felixstow e— and,
elaborate, o r a t any rate more efficient, constructions.
again, w ith out entanglement in the private traffic signs. T h e overall result could thus be lo w comm ercial .
There w ould be high-level, tree-top chair rides
neuroses o f L o n d on . buildings set well back from the road behind adequate .-
In other words, w hat m ight be in store under parking courts, backed by tall trees and fronted by - through the Forest and convoys, o f computer-pro Levan t nudist scene in the country’— thermostatically
grammed holiday houseboats (both pu blic and
a planning-free dispensation might not be the simple tall signs, with a soft, rolypoly countryside appearing controlled and ten bob a head.
‘‘d estruction" o f the pretty coaching villages on the behind. private) on the Solent. Faw le y refinery w ould have
It w ould be a good zone in w hich to tack on
m ain road to New m arket, but’ a much more evenly It might be quite graceful to the eye; certainly , ion et lumière. Flo ating grandstands, with pu blic ad to the basic N on-PJan scheme a number o f other
distributed process o f'in fillin g and backfilling o f com more so than the quasi-regimented squalor o f ou r ; dress systems and inform ation displays, w ould involve possible try-outs: freedom for- local authorities to
visitors ip the speed and performance trials o f new
M m unities in an area o f some five to ten miles around
the S tortford airpo rt complex with a general thicken
present suburban industrial concentration damps (or ?
trading estates), a n d ' equally more so than the - water gear (hovercraft, speedboats, water-skis, -life-
raise money in ways they see fit (a sales tax, a
sail tax, a poll tax, a po n y tax); local commercial
ïÿi’ ing in a ll parts as far as D unm ow o r Royston. Nearest featureless boredom o f the increasingly large areas ;; saving). La rg e retractable m arinas w ould have sail-in g radio, w ith in form ation fo r visitors and tourists;
the airports .one can expect a zone o f motels, long o f East A ng lia that are being flattened out fo r efficient ? movies arid row-in bars. Beach buggies w ou ld drive S “ pot” shops instead o f all those declining tobacconists
term’ parking (essential a n d ’inevitable with a la rg e ly ' exploitation by agro-industry. 1 do n ’t suppose th a t; through the heathland. Particular villages, especially a (and see how different the population seems, o r how
m otorised access) and secondary services, with it w ill appear graceful to the eyes o f the present;, on the Isle o f Wight, w ould be got up as showpieces. £ similar, after five o r ten years); the abandonment
prim ary and engineering services down towards generation o f Stansted nay-sayers. But it may appear | Britain's first giant dome w ould rise on the Isle o f Î o f a few other rules, like pub hours— as at present
H a rlo w because o f its. existing in dustrial'zone. Th e differently to their successors— as a deliverance'from i’ Wight coast ; the first all-weather, all-public lie du * happens, i f you know where, during Cow es Week.
m otels, restaurants and so o n fo r Stansted might creeping death by economic stagnation that w ill aw ait )
w ell st,ring out eastwards, however, along the a120,
in a similar, m anner to the-development o f the “ little
the area; if it remains, in its present condition o f t
stalemate between development pressures and plan- ;•
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL M A / JUNE JULY AUGUST
L a s V egas" strip along .Mannheim. R o a d to serve ning prohibitions. _____
MONTAGU COUNTRY A few years ago a-nuclear power station was rejected W ight (with its dim inishing rail network) is r:
5
"M ;:
f o r .the Isle o f -Wight, uridei the dou btfu l slogan o f Portsmouth. T h e highly equipped naval dockyard is
preserving the nation's heritage. In fact, this V ictorian being run down; skilled labour is looking fo r work. . 9
m g
island— once one o f the. O ld Queen's favourite foosls, T h e ditched Buchanan plan for a Solent C ity is i n - ; . ■
and J. B. Priestley's— is losing what heritage it had. tended to arc between the Southampton and Porta- ;
In the Solent area— Portsm outh/Southam pton/New mouth poles like a spark looking fo r a gap. It w i l l >
F o re s t/Is le o f W igh t— the island t i one o f the few be valuable to have the check o f w hat Professor \
parts suffering any loss o f population. It might gain Buchanan expected to be able to instil here.
m ore . from, an abandonm ent o f preservation than it Besides growth and decline, the Solent has a ; S I
has so fa r w on from its continuance. flourishing middle area w hich is neither grow ing nor ;
: A ltogether, the Solent is a curious hodgepodge. declining but sim ply being preserved. It has historic i
A t Fawley, fo r example, it has the largest o il refinery towns, villages'and monuments— like the w ill-kn ow n j
: 9 !
in E u ro p e and ..the most publicised productivity
Agreem ents, in ' B ritain — from w hich pipelines and
monumental village school at Winchester;, the’ palace, ;
abbey and lo rd at Beaulieu; the N e a r Forest itselF. i E l
j j j & p S ; • j Teptayr
m oralisation stretch out to the rest o f the country.
T h e n :th e re - S o u th a m p to n — a m ajor-port with huge
There’s fhe small-boats jn d u stry tT h e preservationist’i Taie any
counter end
lobby is pow erful: ihgtc are ^ s o r te d arch ite ctu ral;
oapacity-for .expansion— already, w ithin the orb't o f knights at Beaulieu a ij& a t Bite^ier's H ard, and the 1
Greater. Lo n d on . T o arrive at-’Southampton, either
by boatiot-j>y pfane, is to feel yourself at the edge
ygchting brotherhood p lfle a u lie u (again the lynch- :
pin), H am ble and Lymiflgson; E d w ard M ontagu and i piece it on the
q f art incipient, megalopolis w hich doesn’t stop till,
it reaches ';Blet.chley,;''.Ipsw ich and Sevenoaks,:’’
Edm und d f jR o tljs fh ild (the (atteiU ji^ Exbury) are |
showm en-geotiyi but they remain gentry.' A - fon« |
pieesure zone
S outham pton -do esn 't -jii'st have four tides ,a day-
(w hich seems like an almost sinful am ount o f deep
sortlum of..landowner^ jn- the,Beaulieu va lle y ih a y t i
launched aW f^ elopgiirit plan.
heard; mere
water), U has a .university as expansionist as the
rest of- them and. a rapidly swelling population.
W ith N S a j i ; "industrial^ sites . w o u liib e likely i
to ‘spitad more (reefy’ along ’ the -coast west of- i
ayeie hefere 12
F a w le y hnd .Southam pton, in fact,' are at present Southam pton/ Fawley. -So’ w ould housing. B ut there : hears ere up;
the p o le sp f-g ro w th . T h e y generate various secondary
in dustries*.h pye/craft, synthetic jobber, electricity,
would also be a spread o f pleasure. It’s cut out
efter e year er
tech nica l frkinihg.;
twe hut/d a eew
iTbg Jpthpji j?qle -of ideclioo * p a r f jrprov lh* ( M e o f
jsnpfWAinrzNnnmNWdyHowiN'Awnyazjxav/ww heard\
19
442
NEW SOCIETY 20 MARCH 1911.HEW SOCIETY 20 M ARCH 1909
20