Proceedings of the 1988 Urban Design Group URBAN Annual Conference DESIGN A Vision for London? QUARTERLY Issue 31 June 1989 £3.00 CONTENTS Issue 31 June 1989 The Proceedings of the Urban Design Group Annual Conference held on 12th and 13th December 1988 at The Building Centre London MATERIAL FOR PUBLICATION OR REVIEW SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO: Foreword 2 Introduction 2 by Kathy Stansfield The Editor A Vision of Chaos URBAN DESIGN QUARTERLY by Bob Jarvis 26 Park Road The Journey to Docklands 4 Abingdon by Barry Shaw OXON 0X14 IDS A Review of the Past 7 by Ted Hollamby Tel: Work 0908 692 692 The County of London Vision 11 Home 0235 26094 by Arthur Ling The First Real Move to a Planning of London 17 GENERAL ENQUIRIES TO: by Hermione Hobhouse THE URBAN DESIGN GROUP The Urban Imagination of the Attlee Years 22 by John Gold c/o Arnold Linden A Review of the Present 26 Chairman by Geoff Holland 17 Hatton Street The City of London World Financial Centre 30 London by Peter Wynne Rees NW8 8PL Planning Prospects 32 by Robin Clement Tel: 01 723 7772 Design Prospects 35 by Nigel Coates ALL MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES AND Workshop on Aesthetics 37 NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: Summarised by Lawrence Revill Ruth Schamroth Contributions by Richard MacCormac and Peter Low Workshop on Employment 37 1 Harley Road Summarised by Ian Bentley London Contributions by Sidney Sporle and John Worthington NW3 3BX Workshop on Development 38 Summarised by Arnold Linden TREASURER Contribution by David Gosling An Overview 40 Ann Dunton by Francis Tibbalds 13 Garthorne Road Post Script 45 Forest Hill 1988 Kevin Lynch Memorial Lecture given by London Sir Roy Strong. Reviewed by Peter Luck SE23 1EP List of Delegates David Lock gave a much appreciated after dinner speech at the Conference Dinner held at the Architectural Association on the Monday Evening URBAN DESIGN GROUP COMMITTEE 88/89 but unfortunately this was not recorded. Terry Farrell President Terry Farrell's description of the schemes put forward for a Arnold Linden Chairman National Centre of Urban Design are included as an insert Lawrence Revill Vice Chairman Cover Ruth Schamroth Membership Secretary Wren's Plan for the rebuilding of London and perspective of Ann Dunton Honorary Treasurer Lavender Dock East by MacCormac Jamieson Prichard and Ian Bentley Wright John Biggs Regional Affairs John Billingham EDITOR John Billingham Honorary Editor LAYOUT Grahame Edwards & John Billingham Kelvin Campbell PRINTING Polytechnic of Central London Tim Catchpole PUBLISHER Urban Design Group Philip Cave ISBN 0266 - 6480 Stephen Gleave Sebastian Locw £3.00 or free to Urban Design Group Members (Subscription Adair Roche £10.00) The Urban Design Group is not responsible for the views Francis Tibbalds expressed or statements made by the individuals writing or Elizabeth Young reporting in this journal. 40 URBAN DESIGN QUARTERLY JUNE 1989 FOREWORD by John Billingham 'A Vision for London' was the seventh Annual Conference to be held by the Urban Design Group and has some relationship to issues raised at the first conference held in 1982 on the subject of Thamesside. Bryan Jefferson then immediate past president of the RIB A, in a closing address made the following statement:- "I'm going to offer two final points on which again I hope you will agree with me: First, disappoint- ment that the Secretary of State apparently can see no value in a strategic analysis and planning procedure for the River Thames as a whole. I find it unacceptable that he says that we have missed the boat - all we can do now is look at independent sites and say 'yes' or 'no' or 'maybe' ... Secondly, what were my satisfactions? Well, that the GLC is really deeply involved in a strategic study of the Thames. "I want to offer a sort of resolution, in closing, and it is in two parts: The first: That the Conference wishes all success to the GLC's strategic study and urges full participation by all those with something to contribute. The second: That this Conference urges the Secretary of State to see Thamesside as of unique importance and to devise a planning framework to ensure the highest standards of development." INTRODUCTION Since then the GLC has been abolished reducing the op- by Kathy Stansfield portunities to secure a co-ordinated strategy for Thamesside and in the interim period the first major development area in Christopher Wren had a vision for London. It was rejected ! Docklands has progressed without a properly considered urban Many years later, the LCC Planners and Architects of the post- design framework. war period also had a vision: one of municipal patronage, of It is not surprising that various speakers at the confer- quality architecture available to all, of centres of excellence for ence concluded that a new and effective metropolitan authority the masses. The Festival of Britain, Lansbury housing estate, is needed to deal adequately with the problems of our capital the early New Towns were some of the achievements of the city or in its absence that the London Planning Advisory Com- period. But this Utopia seems to have gone wrong. The sixties mittee should be given executive powers. A massive invest- and seventies lost the vision of the forties and fifties and today ment is required not just for transport, which is urgently many critics look back in anger at the realities of these two required, but for environmental measures to see that necessary decades. changes bring overall benefits to the public realm. This is a timely conference in view of the raised profile of architecture, urban design and planning - and particularly in The Conference was held at the Building Centre, view of the major developments taking place in London. London, and included a bus tour that included on its route The divergence of "visions of London", not to say Lansbury, Docklands, Broadgate and Kings Cross. The Urban "visions of Britain", between developers, professionals, the Design Group would like to record its thanks to the Building public and Royalty provides much food for thought. Centre and Sheena Wilson in particular for giving great Are recent visions of London part of a brave new world assistance with arrangements. The organising group for the gone bad? Are royal visions of London merely nostalgic, conference included Arnold Linden, Lawrence Revill, Sebas- encouraging 'playgroup' architecture? Or do they articulate a tian Loew, Alan Stones, Clinton Greyn, John Biggs and Adair deep felt criticism by the highest - and lowest - in the land that Roche. all is not well? The Group would also like to record its thanks to the Does the planning system try to protect the environment London Docklands Development Corporation for acting as and conserve the past at the expense of the future? Or have we host to the lunch on the first day and to acknowledge the too many mediocre professionals on both sides of the develop- sponsorship received from the following organisations: ment coin? And are political visions of London confined merely to those which will catch votes and weaken the opposi- Bovis Construction Ltd tion - abolition of the GLC, discrediting of municipal patron- Ideal Homes (London) Ltd age and abandoning planning controls in favour of private Regalian Properties pic profit? Wiggins Group pic And where do urban design skills fit into this pattern? These D W Windsor Ltd are some of the issues that are the concern of this conference. 2 URBAN DESIGN QUARTERLY JUNE 1989 A VISION OF CHAOS ? by Bob Jarvis The themes of good conferences are already around us. The trade copies. This week it's Rogers. Next week it's decon- best papers pull out of the air what is already on our minds. struction. And at night he walks home across the river. The Urban Design Group conference "A Vision for London" Robin Clement, London Planning Advisory Committee was one of those. It had already started with the Jefferson deputy planner, is another realist, putting forward its strategy Starship tape on my Walkman. At East Croydon she sat next for environmental management. Preserve character. Encour- to me and read up her notes on regional planning in south age but locate growth. Consider the skyline carefully. All Wales. London is as much a region as a city, but is regional good post Lynch stuff. At SOM they eat this with cocktails design a possibility? The 7.47 is a few minutes late at Victoria, before lunch. takes a different track through Clapham. We don't see the By this point it seemed that the only possible visions for crash, but the spectre of urban collapse haunts the conference. London were those of capitalist pragmatism. A good brief the We start off on the bus. Snapshots of visions that almost best Utopia we'd get. MARS? Not my flavour. Uthwatt- happened against a soundtrack of business gossip. Click. Barlow? Never touch the stuff. Greater London Council? Lansbury, scuffed trainers and dayglo teddy bears put half-life Don't make me cry. But maybe there's hope in the Urban back in the burned-out shops of this brave new world. Click. Design Group. It's got Ron "Spider" Herron to bowelise PCL They set up a special budget for him to run. Click. The all over Marylebone, just like Archigram. Hey man it's nearly concrete barricade around Robin Hood Gardens. Click. Of 1965 now! History is catching up. Then the next generation course the commissioners know as much as the staff, and now Architectural Association man Nigel Coates, devil's advocate they're all players they have to keep to the rules of the game.