TV Focus//Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain
The drawing board is
a scary place for any creative. Half way between the mental seed and the
physical manifestation of an idea it’s a part of creativity that is fraught
with much emotion. It was while soaking up the pool of fascination that was
Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain, (so great it was named twice –
Unbuilt Britain in itself is a fascinating enough title on its own) that we
discovered just how much creativity and thought influence the process of life.
“The great thing
about the city is that it’s a meeting place of people and ideas…”
London is undoubtedly
a great city, one that its architecture can easily attest to, but when you look
at the architectural forms that almost came to be you can only conclude that
things could greater. Just maybe… Especially when you look at the superb
designs that could have made London’s already World Heritage Grade 2 protected Regent
Street into something quite different than the pedestrian and shopper filled stress
fest it can often be. In fact the full proposal of a central London encircled
by a ten mile long glass corridor almost makes those strenuous Sunday trips to
Hamleys and Nespresso like stepping into a glorious history of what could have
been.
Sir Joseph Paxton’s 19th
century proposal the Great Victorian Way with its glass topped walkway that
would house the perfect mix of shopping, entertainment and places to stay still
has a modern feel to it on the very needles edge of the 21st century. Indeed, it’s
just what has been constructed in many capital cities the world over using his
glass age tones of modernity.
It’s hard to deny it’s
not a tempting vision but then again a plan submitted by Geoffrey Jellicoe of
having the ground of Regent street as a motorway and walkways above for
pedestrians could also have been a thing of extreme beauty if executed well
enough. Town planning is surely not the most common of dinner conversations but
the sheer fun in knowing that a tunnel for ‘working class people’ under the
streets to keep them out of the way of the rich was once proposed for London is
priceless.
Even Jellicoe’s 1960’s
proposals for Motopia bear some scrutiny – the prospect of a grid style city
where the traffic traverse the roofs of buildings is something that probably
wouldn’t work in this ever more challenging time but it does sound an excellent
idea if done with utmost care. Presenter Dr Olivia Horsfall Turner does the subject
matter duty and makes what could have been a rather dry documentary into a
journey into what could have been and may well be.
