Fabian Hiscock (Department of History, School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire) reports on Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Research Institute (SSAHRI)
conference, Spirella Building, Letchworth Garden City, 12th November 2015
I attended the “Utopia” as a research student in the History
Department looking at early nineteenth century Hertfordshire: not much
relationship there with “experiments in perfection”. But it was good to be
there. SSAHRI has a remarkable breadth in a single Institute, and part of the
fun is exploring some of that breadth. The historians were well represented,
certainly, and part of a pretty eclectic mix. And it was with anticipation that
we gathered in the notable Spirella Building (an education in itself), took tea
(and coffee), and sat back.
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| Alan Powers' Keynote, Spirella Ballroom. Photo by Grace Lees-Maffei. |
The keynote address was by Professor Alan Powers. He raised
the age-old question, now of course of increasing relevance: “Where are the
people to go?” New towns were (are) planned on the basis that the old ones have
failed, and he offered Milton Keynes as an example: but then reminded us that
one can’t really have a night out in Milton Keynes (I’ve never tried, but we
got the point – you don’t build a “style” just by erecting buildings). He drew
on the demolition of Manchester and London terraces, and of the tower blocks
that followed them, the rise of smaller and more open developments. There is no
agreement on which is better, but there is a constant striving towards
improvment by the well-meaning.
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| Advertising Welwyn Garden City. Photo by Grace Lees-Maffei. |
It was at this point that I realised that a refresher on the
original Utopia by Thomas More (1512) would have been handy: where did the
term come from that we were discussing, and what did it actually mean? But most
of those present will have known well enough. With Alan Powers we were in the
“pop” era of the 60s and 70s, and one of the themes that he offered was the
(wholly imaginary) outline of 'Civilia', drawn by 'Ivor de Wolfe' on the
remains of Judkins Quarry near Bedworth, Nuneaton. This 1960s and 70s
resistance to the perceived refusal of architecture to consider the needs of
the people reflected the view that 'the city had become too big, and without
thought for the people who live in it.' De Wolfe also offered the 'Italian
Townscape' as a desirable setting for urban life, and Powers took us through
both that and the utterly contrasting 'Potteries Thinkbelt' concept of Cedric
Price.
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| Cedric Price, Potteries Thinkbelt as a peripatetic educational model. Photo by Katrina Navickas. |
And so we came to the Garden City. It was no coincidence that
we were in Letchworth Garden City, a concept of Ebenezer Howard made real in
1903. Its layout consciously provided the workplaces vital to sustainable
growth outside the inhabited centre and the city was walkable for all. The role
of social visionaries, following John Ruskin and William Morris, in promoting the whole
concept of the Garden City to the point of realising ‘Utopia’, (with greater or lesser
success) was acknowledged. David Ames of Letchworth Heritage
Foundation followed up on Garden City Utopias and Letchworth in particular.
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| Planning the first Garden Cities. Photo by Grace Lees-Maffei. |
We went on to look at the current work of architects,
planners and designers on both micro and macro scales. Dr Daniel Marques
Sampaio of the School of Creative Arts revealed the story of Canary Wharf and
the impact of post-1980 capitalism on the original concept for redeveloping the
declining docklands and Greenwich opposite. We heard an analysis by Dr Pual Cureton (Creative Arts) of the use of
space in Welwyn using a GIS tool, which emphasised to me the sheer richness of
the techniques now available. We were given a strong reminder by Dr Susan
Parham of the Centre for Sustainable Communities of the importance of food
production and supply in the success of any settlement, especially when trying
to achieve ‘Utopia’, Finally, we had a highly personal account by Dr Ian
Waites, of the University of Lincoln, of his early experiences when his family
moved from a Gainsborough terrace to a new council estate just outside; ‘Utopia’
depends on the viewpoint of the observer, and if you’re living ‘the concept’
you don’t necessarily share the jaundiced view of the commentator.
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| Dr Susan Parham, Centre for Sustainable Communities, University of Hertfordshire. Photographs by Grace Lees-Maffei. |
We then got to the concepts, in a session entitled ‘Health,
place, work, gender and beyond’. I’d never heard of Peter Kropotkin, a
contemporary of Lenin, but his influence on the development of Letchworth was
presented by Dr Pat Simpson (Creative Arts). Dr Steve Shelley of Hertfordshire
Business School took us to Eigg in the Inner Hebrides, via the zero-carbon working
environment, giving us a reminder along the way that there is no consensus on a
‘perfect way of living’. This fact was reinforced by Dr Marta Rabikowska (Creative Arts) in her examination of the huge diversity in many communities and the potential of 'participatory arts' in building community relations in a context far removed
from the ‘Garden City, a quite different model of Utopia. She was talking about
(and showing a film from) Plumstead, and she brought a copy of the book Utopia,
signed by members of the Utopia Society, which she invited us to sign also to
signify commitment at least to the concept.
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| Title woodcut for Utopia written by Thomas More. Wikipedia: Public Domain. |
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| Rick Guidice's Utopian illustrations for NASA, in a presentation by Dr Neil Maycroft. Photo by Katrina Navickas. |
The wholly-imaginary Utopia’ featured also, or, more
exactly, the ‘dystopia’ of the Dune science fiction series by Frank Herbert, in
a talk by Alex Anthony-Lewczuk of the University of Lincoln while his colleague
from Lincoln, Dr Neil Maycroft, delivered the amusingly-titled ‘Never mind my
jet-pack, where’s my four-legged chicken?’ which reviewed a number of visions
of the future from the past, and examined the role of design and technology in
envisioning and materialising Utopia. The discussion that followed was as wide
ranging in scope as the day had been, and tended to confirm the inevitable
conclusion: there is no consensus on what constitutes Utopia, only that it can remains
a concept, one to be striven for, but not to be achieved.
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| Prof Carenza Lewis. Photo by Katrina Navickas. |
In the closing keynote presentation, ‘Brave new world or
toil and trouble? The long view of new towns’, Professor Carenza Lewis suggests
that New Towns can be best understood by recognising that they are not, in
fact, new. She drew parallels between
New Town developments and features common to earlier placemaking activities. Lewis pointed out that while New Towns care very carefully planned for specific purposes, spontaneous developments can often be successful too, although less secure. New Towns 'materialise the Zeitgeist', she suggested, in their preoccupation with issues such as defence, nation building, feudalism and capitalism.
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| Delegates at Utopia: Experiments in Perfection. Photo by Katrina Navickas. |
Was it worthwhile? For me, as a newcomer in the field, ‘Yes,
absolutely’. The day provided me with an opportunity to gain insight into what
goes on in our Institute and indeed our University, and the University of
Lincoln. Some of the material presented was highly specialist, some highly
technical, and some - to me, at least - impenetrable. But I’d be very surprised
if anyone came away with nothing new. And as it happens, I learned a great deal
more than that…
Fabian Hiscock, Department of History, School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire.
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| Lighting, Spirella Ballroom. Photo by Grace Lees-Maffei. |
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